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Iconic Guard Tower Falls as Washington Closure Continues Cleanup Progress at N Reactor Site

01.12.2012

RICHLAND, Wash.—Washington Closure Hanford removed an iconic symbol of the Cold War on Wednesday by demolishing the security guard tower at N Reactor, the last of nine plutonium production reactors to be shut down at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site.

N Reactor operated from 1963 to 1987. The reactor was unique in that it was the only one in the nation that produced plutonium and electricity. With more than 24 years of operation, it was the longest running reactor at Hanford.

The guard tower symbolized Hanford’s mission to produce plutonium for America’s defense program. Its demolition is part of significant cleanup progress being made by Washington Closure and its subcontractors to clean up the River Corridor, a 220-square-mile area along the banks of the Columbia River in southeastern Washington state. The River Corridor is equivalent in size to the city of Chicago.

The $2.3 billion River Corridor Closure Project, which Washington Closure manages for DOE, is the largest environmental cleanup closure project in the nation. The 10-year project is on target to be completed in 2015.

“As part of N Reactor cleanup and interim safe storage of the facilities, workers have removed approximately 696,000 tons of contaminated material away from the Columbia River,” said Gary Snow, Director of deactivation and demolition for Washington Closure. “The demolition of the guard tower stands as a reminder of the progress we are making by cleaning up the legacy waste along the River Corridor from Hanford’s plutonium production mission.”

Placing a building in interim safe storage is also known as “cocooning.” It involves demolishing structures down to the solid concrete shield walls, sealing all openings with concrete or steel plate and placing a long-lived roof over the facility to stabilize it for 75 years. Cocooning of the Heater Exchange Facility was completed in April 2011, and the reactor is more than 95 percent cocooned.

In addition, Washington Closure is demolishing 109 reactor support facilities and cleaning up 119 waste sites. To date, nearly 700,000 tons of contaminated and hazardous
material from N Area has been transported away from the Columbia River and disposed in a regulator approved disposal facility.

“We’re on schedule to stabilize the reactor and complete cleanup of the reactor’s support facilities by September,” Snow said.

The guard tower was located on the 181-N Building, which was the reactor’s water intake structure. The 181-N Building, which is scheduled to be demolished later this month, provided water from the Columbia River to cool the reactor during operation. The guard tower was the largest at Hanford, standing 62 feet tall and weighing more than 49,000 pounds.

President John Kennedy visited Hanford on Sept. 26, 1963 to speak at the groundbreaking for the power production plant. In 1987, N Reactor shut down for maintenance, refueling and safety upgrades. However, the reactor never operated again. It was decommissioned when the Cold War ended in 1989, marking the beginning of the cleanup era at Hanford.

Washington Closure is a limited liability company owned by URS, Bechtel and CH2M Hill. The company is responsible for cleaning up 555 waste sites, demolishing 329 contaminated buildings, placing two plutonium production reactors and one nuclear facility in interim safe storage, and operating Hanford’s onsite Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility.

• Guard Tower Fact Sheet
• Images of Iconic Guard Tower Cleanup at N Reactor
  • Pre-Fall
  • Starting to Fall
  • Falling Over
  • Falling Over More
  • After Fall
  • After Fall, Side View
  • After Fall, Angle View
  • After Fall with Workers