Work stops as DoE seeks new contractor at former world’s largest building.
We reported earlier today that Bechtel Jacobs, the US Department of Energy’s contractor of choice on what is probably the world’s largest demolition project, has taken a step back from front line demolition at the former K-25 uranium processing plant at Oak Ridge. But it seems that this is merely the tip of an iceberg of Biblical proportions now facing the DoE.
A cold, wet winter has further complicated operations at the site. “If it rains on Monday, it rains inside for three more days,’ John Eschenberg, the U.S. Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup manager, said at a workshop last week. Eschenberg was referring to K-25’s sieve-like roof. But rain is just one of the many obstacles faced by contractors trying to bring down the massive structure, which was built during World War II to process uranium for atomic bombs.
Demolition of K-25’s west wing was completed in late January, but tearing down the rest of the milelong, U-shaped building will have to wait for at least another year. DOE is changing contractors, and Bechtel Jacobs Co. — the government’s cleanup chief in Oak Ridge since 1998 — plans to spend the rest of its tenure taking samples, dismantling high-risk equipment and doing other ‘heavy lifting’ to prepare for eventual demolition by the next contractor.
The yet-to-be-selected contractor is scheduled to take over July 1, 2011, and Eschenberg said demolition of K-25 — and its nearby sister facility, K-27 — will be the agency’s top priority.
The Oak Ridge project has proved to be enormously difficult and incredibly expensive — spending may already have topped $1 billion.
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