US research reactor seeks funds for decommissioning

16 March 2018


Work to decommission a nuclear reactor test site owned by the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville will stop the end of this month because of a lack of funding, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Arkansas Online reported on 15 March, citing Mike Johnson, UA's associate vice chancellor for facilities. 

However, Johnson hoped that a request for $8m from the federal government would come through to allow the project to be completed over the next 12 months. Crews are expected to maintain a "periodic" presence after 1 April, he said. A plan could restart with 45 days notice to begin removal of the facility's reactor core. The Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR), ceased operations in the early 1970s, with UA taking over ownership in 1975.

A $10.5m US Department of Energy (DOE) grant, announced in October 2016, helped jump-start remediation of the site and thousands of pounds of low-level radioactive waste have since been transported to a specialised disposal facility in Utah. After April 1, the plan is for staff with UA or Utah-based Energy Solutions to visit the site likely every week, Johnson said. Radioactive materials licences would remain in place, and some storage of equipment would continue.

The cost this month in transitioning to what Johnson referred to as SAFSTOR status is about $60,000, he said. Costs beginning 1 April would be about $4000 a month for up to 12 months, and it would then cost about $175,000 to restart cleanup with 45 days notice, he said. 

The reactor was built in 1968 with funding from the US Atomic Energy Commission, but it was never used to produce electricity. UA assumed ownership of the site in 1975 and used the reactor as a research tool for students. 

UA has long sought federal aid to cleanup the site. The University previously estimated the project would cost $26.1m. In 2009, UA was awarded a federal planning grant of $1.9m, and, since the DOE grant announcement in 2016, the university has received about $5m in additional funds from a federal appropriations bill.



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