Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Legacy High Hazard Decommissioning

Abstract

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), has an executive priority to accelerate decommissioning activities to support the largest and most complex environmental clean-up mission in Canada. The CNL's decommissioning team is actively working in the two highest hazard facilities at Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) and making significant progress in liability and risk reductions.

Building 250 is a large wooden, multi-purpose laboratory erected in the early 1950’s. It houses a Class 1 Nuclear Tritium Facility, multiple Class C labs and two Hot Cell Facilities located on the 5th and 6th floors. This facility encompasses many other decommissioning challenges such as a stored liquid waste tank, and over 80 active fume hood and ventilations systems which are potentially contaminated with perchlorates.

The Building 200 Series comprised of three facilities to support National Reactor Experimental (NRX). Building 204 was designed and constructed in the mid-1940s to provide the storage and handling of fuel rods from NRX. Building 200A was built in 1947 and used as a fuel re-processing plant where Uranium-233 was recovered from thorium fuel. Building 220 was constructed in 1947 and was used to extract plutonium. The team has incorporated many innovative techniques to tackle some of the largest contaminated liabilities at CRL.

This paper will present CNL’s decommissioning progress to date in theses legacy facilities with a focus on the innovative strategies employed and upcoming opportunities from the remaining scope.