The Y-12 Infrastructure Reduction program helps prepare the Y-12 National Security Complex for modernization.
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Story (08-05-2005)

Tearing it down: Building 9720-8 set for destruction

By Ellen Rogers, Oak Ridger Staff — The Y‑12 National Security Complex's Infrastructure Reduction Program, formed to help prepare the plant for modernization, continues to move forward.

Building 9720-8, which housed used equipment no longer needed on-site, was expected to be demolished by the end of Friday.

[Image: Scott Hoekstra stands on site where building 9720-8 is to be demolished.]

Subcontract Technical Representative Scott Hoekstra stands on site at the Y‑12 National Security Complex, where the 9720‑8 building was expected to be demolished by the end of Friday.

The Infrastructure Reduction Program's primary goal is to remove or demolish structures no longer required to meet Y‑12 missions. It also helps Y‑12's modernization through extensive reuse of existing facilities and construction of necessary new facilities.

Half of Building 9720-7, which once contained excess equipment sold to the public but has moved off-site, has already been demolished, IR project manager Melissa Portwood said. The other half is expected to be gone sometime next week, reported building project manager Gary Dintsch.

“The project is going well,” Dintsch said of the demolition of the 29,000-square-foot building that was constructed in the 1950s.

“We're on schedule.”

“We plan a year before the demolition year (of the buildings),” Portwood explained. “We're planning for next year's demolition right now.”

Portwood said that Building 9610, an electrician's shop, was torn down last week.

“Building 9720-8 was the largest building we've taken down,” said Ray Smith, IR facilities manager. “It once had offices, a conference room, a mail room — it was a very active facility for a number of years.”

The SEC RADCON Alliance, a combination of Safety and Ecology Holdings and Kelly Scientific Resources employees working in support of Bechtel Jacobs LLC, has provided its services for the demolition.

“We characterize the buildings for radiological hazards,” explained RADCON field supervisor Derrick Dameron.

“It helps us determine if we need personnel protection while demolishing the building.”

Once a building is characterized, RADCON waste management engineer Arlin Yeager determines where its waste will be disposed.

“We provide containers and oversight to make sure it's packaged right,” Yeager said. “We also try to recycle as much as we can.”

Source: The Oak Ridger (August 5, 2005).