Nov. 27, 2010
Huntington Plant Ran Materials that Originated From Hanford, Washington --- the Nation’s Most Radioactively Contaminated Nuclear Site
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – The former uranium processing plant on the INCO campus (Huntington Pilot Plant/Reduction Pilot Plant) received recycling materials from all three of the gaseous diffusion plants i.e. Portsmouth, Paducah and Oak Ridge. However, HNN has learned that during the recycling attempts to reduce the radioactivity of nickel, the HPP/RPP had previously used materials from Hanford (Washington), according to an expert source familiar with the K-25 [building] at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The Hanford nuclear reservation contains what some have described as the site of the worst waste contamination.
“The K-25 building system ran lots of Hanford returns, so the system was loaded with Tc-99 as well as plutonium and lots of other reactor generated products,” the Oak Ridge source confirmed. “These would be found in barrier materials sent to Huntington, as lots of things were trapped in the barriers as they plugged up and were removed from units.”
The Hanford site was built in the 1940s by the government as one of the components of the Manhattan Project, which resulted in the development of hydrogen bombs. The dropping of these bombs on two Japanese cities essentially ended World War II.
On November 17, 2010 a contractor hired for the decontamination and demolition process of the Hanford facility found a location where lethal residual radiation remained. The site had produced plutonium during the Cold War. The highly radioactive cell was found under a structure used from 1966 to 1996 for exploration of radioactive waste treatment.
At Hanford, using remote equipment , soil samples under the structure found radiation levels thousands of times greater than allowable levels for exposure over one hour, and TEN times the lethal limit. In addition to workers receiving high dosages, DOE on November 17, 2010, announced concerns that the contamination could have impacted ground water and there were possible airborne issues.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: HNN previously published from public record discussion by radiation experts who postulated that HPP/RPP workers received up to ten times more than the previously calculated radiation dosages when working at the Huntington plant which operated from about 1951-1962 and 1978-1979. During the 60s and 70s the unit remained on cold stand by at the site before it was demolished and buried at Piketon, Ohio, due to radioactive contamination.)
WHY RECYCLE RADIOACTIVE MATTER?
Since nickel (like other highly radioactive minerals) are expensive metal/alloy , recycling of unused atomic weapons has been a government priority. The recouping of the funds could allow making items for non-atomic and non-weapons uses. Many processes have attempted to recycle radioactive components of nuclear weaponry , but the results have been mixed, leaving a trail of radioactive materials in the recycled chemical and on the equipment used to recycle it.
Huntington was not the only facility that recycled uranium but the nickel left from the gaseous diffusion process was often sent to this city for extraction.
HNN has examined multiple copies of Facility Data Reports , including one from January 1956. The documents indicate , first, that the HPP was producing “metallic nickel in powder form,” according to “secret” specifications provided by the Atomic Energy Commission. Second, that the materials included a mixture of barrier production activities from K-25 (Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion building) , and, that material was “unclassified” when not associated with K-25 “barrier production.” Third, “when associated with K-25 barrier production, [the contents was ] secret.” Finally, the same document indicated that the “geographic office” would be moved from “WASU [Washington State University] to OROO [Oak Ridge Operations Office].
According to the OGDP (Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion ) expert, “The barrier materials [there] were made of sintered nickel powder with calcium fluoride powder and this produced the 1 micron hole diffusion barrier. The K-25 systems generally used one large six inch tube barrier as compared to the 50's vintage systems that used barrier tubing bundles.”
He continued: “Depending on the methods used to heat the barrier materials to extract nickel, the calcium fluoride content can release various fluoride compounds to include the very dangerous F (fluorine) and HF (toxic hydrofluoric acid) … There are also lots of similar issues with the conversion of UF-6 or DUF-6 tails back to uranium metals or oxides and various fluoride compounds.
“The piping systems and compressor systems of the K-25 building were highly laden with various levels of uranium fluoride compounds that caused both proliferation issues and nuclear criticality concerns with water from leaking roofs getting into the systems. There were huge amounts of trapped enriched uranium in the systems,” the OGDP expert stated. “ By far the worst Pu (plutonium ) contamination at the K-25 plant was the fluorination column area where the Hanford returns were processed into UF-4 and beyond-----this was so contaminated that it was the first area to undergo D&D.”
Essentially, the receipt of USED process materials from the three gaseous diffusion plants contained radioactive residues beyond uranium. By converting this material in Huntington, the Huntington facility became itself contaminated with the same radioactive residues that plugged pipes at the other plants.
Lee Blackburn, Sierra Club Nuclear Team member and a former member of the Portsmouth Site Specific Advisory Board, in a prior interview explained , “They ran a load of contaminated materials through the [Huntington] plant. Then , they ran clean metals through [but because] it was already contaminated, the clean metal came out contaminated.”
Blackburn speculated the Huntington Pilot Plant must have been highly contaminated since the dismantled building, equipment and demolition machinery including trucks and railroad cars were buried in a classified section of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion complex at Piketon, Ohio.
The demolition contract for the Huntington HPP/RPP of which HNN has a copy speaks of precautions due to radioactive piping:
“Precautions must be taken to minimize the spillage and dispersal of radioactive dust should unusual quantities of this material be encountered… such precautions will (generally anticipated) be needed only during the dismantling of the residue section located in a confined area of the process building…much of the equipment and PIPING may be potential source of carbonyl and uranium contamination… and will require scraping, wire brushing, vacuuming, washing, and possibly the inverting of pipe to empty excessive amounts of material which cannot be contained by plugging……openings of equipment In the residue section is considered contaminated… all structural steel, floors, siding, lighting…” (Specifications for Demolition, RPP, Huntington Alloys, March 29, 1978).
An additional document dated January 24, 1950 discusses a proposal to melt K-25 scrap metals in the Number Five furnace of the Huntington Refinery Building. HNN has not seen documentation that this process occurred; instead, the HPP/RPP plant was constructed and put in operation in a matter of a year or so thereafter.
OTHER MATERIALS
At least, traces of sister radioactive chemicals of uranium --- the aforementioned plutonium, Neptunian and Tc-99 --- have been previously disclosed in the HPP/RPP resume. That’s not to downplay the dangers of enriched and depleted uranium.
For instance, at the Oak Ridge K-25 building high levels of enriched uranium resulted in “various leaks that sent the yellow dust into all areas of the building,” the Oak Ridge source stated. “The entire building is considered a radiation contamination zone… D&D gets stopped lots of times because of all the Tc-99 contamination not being well addressed or contained.”
What’s happened to the K-25 building? It’s standing. It’s rotting. Add black mold to the list of contaminants.
© Tony Rutherford & Huntingtonnews.net
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Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
Huntington Plant Ran Materials that Originated From Hanford, Washington --- the Nation’s Most Radioactively Contaminated Nuclear Site
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – The former uranium processing plant on the INCO campus (Huntington Pilot Plant/Reduction Pilot Plant) received recycling materials from all three of the gaseous diffusion plants i.e. Portsmouth, Paducah and Oak Ridge. However, HNN has learned that during the recycling attempts to reduce the radioactivity of nickel, the HPP/RPP had previously used materials from Hanford (Washington), according to an expert source familiar with the K-25 [building] at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The Hanford nuclear reservation contains what some have described as the site of the worst waste contamination.
“The K-25 building system ran lots of Hanford returns, so the system was loaded with Tc-99 as well as plutonium and lots of other reactor generated products,” the Oak Ridge source confirmed. “These would be found in barrier materials sent to Huntington, as lots of things were trapped in the barriers as they plugged up and were removed from units.”
The Hanford site was built in the 1940s by the government as one of the components of the Manhattan Project, which resulted in the development of hydrogen bombs. The dropping of these bombs on two Japanese cities essentially ended World War II.
On November 17, 2010 a contractor hired for the decontamination and demolition process of the Hanford facility found a location where lethal residual radiation remained. The site had produced plutonium during the Cold War. The highly radioactive cell was found under a structure used from 1966 to 1996 for exploration of radioactive waste treatment.
At Hanford, using remote equipment , soil samples under the structure found radiation levels thousands of times greater than allowable levels for exposure over one hour, and TEN times the lethal limit. In addition to workers receiving high dosages, DOE on November 17, 2010, announced concerns that the contamination could have impacted ground water and there were possible airborne issues.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: HNN previously published from public record discussion by radiation experts who postulated that HPP/RPP workers received up to ten times more than the previously calculated radiation dosages when working at the Huntington plant which operated from about 1951-1962 and 1978-1979. During the 60s and 70s the unit remained on cold stand by at the site before it was demolished and buried at Piketon, Ohio, due to radioactive contamination.)
WHY RECYCLE RADIOACTIVE MATTER?
Since nickel (like other highly radioactive minerals) are expensive metal/alloy , recycling of unused atomic weapons has been a government priority. The recouping of the funds could allow making items for non-atomic and non-weapons uses. Many processes have attempted to recycle radioactive components of nuclear weaponry , but the results have been mixed, leaving a trail of radioactive materials in the recycled chemical and on the equipment used to recycle it.
Huntington was not the only facility that recycled uranium but the nickel left from the gaseous diffusion process was often sent to this city for extraction.
HNN has examined multiple copies of Facility Data Reports , including one from January 1956. The documents indicate , first, that the HPP was producing “metallic nickel in powder form,” according to “secret” specifications provided by the Atomic Energy Commission. Second, that the materials included a mixture of barrier production activities from K-25 (Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion building) , and, that material was “unclassified” when not associated with K-25 “barrier production.” Third, “when associated with K-25 barrier production, [the contents was ] secret.” Finally, the same document indicated that the “geographic office” would be moved from “WASU [Washington State University] to OROO [Oak Ridge Operations Office].
According to the OGDP (Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion ) expert, “The barrier materials [there] were made of sintered nickel powder with calcium fluoride powder and this produced the 1 micron hole diffusion barrier. The K-25 systems generally used one large six inch tube barrier as compared to the 50's vintage systems that used barrier tubing bundles.”
He continued: “Depending on the methods used to heat the barrier materials to extract nickel, the calcium fluoride content can release various fluoride compounds to include the very dangerous F (fluorine) and HF (toxic hydrofluoric acid) … There are also lots of similar issues with the conversion of UF-6 or DUF-6 tails back to uranium metals or oxides and various fluoride compounds.
“The piping systems and compressor systems of the K-25 building were highly laden with various levels of uranium fluoride compounds that caused both proliferation issues and nuclear criticality concerns with water from leaking roofs getting into the systems. There were huge amounts of trapped enriched uranium in the systems,” the OGDP expert stated. “ By far the worst Pu (plutonium ) contamination at the K-25 plant was the fluorination column area where the Hanford returns were processed into UF-4 and beyond-----this was so contaminated that it was the first area to undergo D&D.”
Essentially, the receipt of USED process materials from the three gaseous diffusion plants contained radioactive residues beyond uranium. By converting this material in Huntington, the Huntington facility became itself contaminated with the same radioactive residues that plugged pipes at the other plants.
Lee Blackburn, Sierra Club Nuclear Team member and a former member of the Portsmouth Site Specific Advisory Board, in a prior interview explained , “They ran a load of contaminated materials through the [Huntington] plant. Then , they ran clean metals through [but because] it was already contaminated, the clean metal came out contaminated.”
Blackburn speculated the Huntington Pilot Plant must have been highly contaminated since the dismantled building, equipment and demolition machinery including trucks and railroad cars were buried in a classified section of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion complex at Piketon, Ohio.
The demolition contract for the Huntington HPP/RPP of which HNN has a copy speaks of precautions due to radioactive piping:
“Precautions must be taken to minimize the spillage and dispersal of radioactive dust should unusual quantities of this material be encountered… such precautions will (generally anticipated) be needed only during the dismantling of the residue section located in a confined area of the process building…much of the equipment and PIPING may be potential source of carbonyl and uranium contamination… and will require scraping, wire brushing, vacuuming, washing, and possibly the inverting of pipe to empty excessive amounts of material which cannot be contained by plugging……openings of equipment In the residue section is considered contaminated… all structural steel, floors, siding, lighting…” (Specifications for Demolition, RPP, Huntington Alloys, March 29, 1978).
An additional document dated January 24, 1950 discusses a proposal to melt K-25 scrap metals in the Number Five furnace of the Huntington Refinery Building. HNN has not seen documentation that this process occurred; instead, the HPP/RPP plant was constructed and put in operation in a matter of a year or so thereafter.
OTHER MATERIALS
At least, traces of sister radioactive chemicals of uranium --- the aforementioned plutonium, Neptunian and Tc-99 --- have been previously disclosed in the HPP/RPP resume. That’s not to downplay the dangers of enriched and depleted uranium.
For instance, at the Oak Ridge K-25 building high levels of enriched uranium resulted in “various leaks that sent the yellow dust into all areas of the building,” the Oak Ridge source stated. “The entire building is considered a radiation contamination zone… D&D gets stopped lots of times because of all the Tc-99 contamination not being well addressed or contained.”
What’s happened to the K-25 building? It’s standing. It’s rotting. Add black mold to the list of contaminants.
© Tony Rutherford & Huntingtonnews.net
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
