Westinghouse officials believe the company will be able to finish its cleanup and close out the license for the old Hematite nuclear fuels plant by the last quarter of 2014, a Westinghouse spokesman said at a public meeting Wednesday (Oct. 3) at the First Christian Church in Hematite.
Decommissioning activities began at the plant, located along Hwy. P, in 2002.
Bob Copp, Hematite Decommissioning Project director, told the gathering of about 35 people that excavation and remediation of soil from the 40 or so burial pits at the site should be completed by December 2013. The process to remove nuclear waste from the pits began March 19 of this year.
“The remediation is about 28 percent complete,” Copp said. “We are exploring ways to expedite the work.”
The plant dates back to the 1950s, but manufacturing at the site ceased in 2001 after Westinghouse purchased the facility as part of a multibillion-dollar package deal. The Hematite facility was the oldest nuclear fuel plant in the country, opening in 1956 to manufacture nuclear fuel for the government and the military. In 1974, operations at the plant switched to commercial nuclear fuel for power plants.
Copp reported the company thus far has excavated 220,176 cubic feet of dirt and plant waste found to have small quantities radioactive and chemical contamination. Workers pack up the contaminated materials and ship them by railroad to U.S. Ecology Inc. in Grandview, Idaho.
Westinghouse has stored another 215,000 cubic feet of uncontaminated soil on the site and will use it to help fill in the pits, Copp said.
The total volume of soil planned for excavation in the project is estimated at 1,003,975 cubic feet, he said.
Copp said company officials intend to keep the property after completion of the decommissioning process.
“Westinghouse is now considering it for other non-fuel uses,” he said.
In the photo: Bob Copp, Hematite Decommissioning Project director.
--Story and photo by Kevin Carbery
