Canadian Nuclear Laboratories has completed a major preparatory project at Chalk River Laboratories involving a former isotope extraction facility linked to the National Research Experimental reactor.
The building, which has been in a safe state of decommissioning since the 1980s, required specialized work ahead of eventual demolition. CNL’s decommissioning and environmental remediation team created new access points into two radiologically contaminated rooms shielded by 36-inch reinforced concrete walls.
The new doorways will allow crews to remove remaining equipment and systems before concrete surfaces inside the rooms are remediated. Engineers used rebar scanning to map the structures, while field staff cored around each doorway in accordance with a detailed design plan. Expanding grout was then applied to break the concrete slabs into rubble, and the openings were sealed with polycarbonate doors.
About 18,000 pounds of low-level radioactive waste was removed, packaged and transported to CNL’s designated waste management area at the Chalk River site.
(Richard Evans)