Environmental management crews in Oak Ridge have completed major deactivation efforts on a Manhattan Project-era facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex slated for demolition.
The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and contractor UCOR have been working toward this deactivation milestone since 2020. Workers finished deactivating the above-ground floors of the Beta-1 facility in December, according to a UCOR news release. Now, only deactivation work in the basement remains before the teardown can begin.
Beta-1 is a 210,000-square-foot, two-story building constructed in 1944 to enrich uranium during World War II. It was later converted to laboratory space for fusion-energy technology.
The Beta‐1 Complex includes the Fusion Energy Technology Building, Helium Compressor Building and a steel utility transformer. All three will be demolished together.
“Having safely and efficiently removed barriers, completing the building deactivation is a great achievement for our team,” said Billy Lloyd, UCOR project manager.