OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Cleanup crews are making steady progress on deactivation projects across Oak Ridge National Laboratory to prepare for the next wave of demolitions as they continue transforming the site.

Crews with Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and cleanup contractor UCOR are performing deactivation in 13 buildings at ORNL. A precursor to demolition, deactivation places an excess facility into a stable condition to minimize existing risks and protect workers, the public and the environment.

The projects, underway in a wide range of structures, come on the heels of two successful teardowns and a significant milestone toward a third. Workers demolished the Bulk Shielding Reactor and Low Intensity Test Reactor, and in recent weeks, they removed the reactor vessel from the Oak Ridge Research Reactor to prepare it for knockdown. Work continues in six former isotope labs in an area known as Isotope Row.

The other buildings where deactivation is progressing include the Experimental Gas-Cooled Reactor, two development laboratories, an old process waste treatment facility and the Graphite Reactor support facilities.

Workers have transitioned the 107,000-square-foot Experimental Gas-Cooled Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to the cold and dark state and completed initial deactivation activities, primarily in the underground areas.
Deactivation is nearing completion at the Graphite Reactor support facilities, where demolition is expected to begin in 2025. The former Radioisotope Development Laboratory is also scheduled for demolition next year.