Corps of Engineers: Little environmental risk in removing Belvoir nuclear reactor

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Dismantling and removing a long-deactivated nuclear reactor on Fort Belvoir can be done with minimal risk to the environment, according to an Army Corps of Engineers report released earlier this month.

The Corps of Engineers’ draft environmental assessment, which can be viewed here, concluded that the deactivated SM-1 Nuclear Reactor facility site can be dismantled, transported and removed without any “significant adverse impacts on the physical, cultural, and natural environment.”

“Based on information gathered and analyzed in the [environmental assessment], the Department of the Army finds that implementing the
Proposed Action would not significantly impact the quality of the natural or human environment … ” the draft assessment states.

The decommissioning, which is projected to run from 2020-2025, will encompass the complete removal of all structures and equipment on the SM-1 site. The environmental assessment did look other options, such as decommissioning the site but leaving the structures in place, as well as decommissioning the site and removing the equipment and structures using a barge. Neither were found to be viable options, the Corps of Engineers concluded.

SM-1, which operated from 1957 to 1973, was the Army’s first nuclear power generating facility. It was also the first reactor of its kind to connect to the energy grid, and was primarily used for training before being deactivated in 1973-74.

During deactivation, the plant’s nuclear fuel and control rods were removed and the reactor vessel was sealed, according to the Corps of Engineers. Three of the buildings on the site were dismantled, as were various tanks and other equipment on the property.

The Corps of Engineers requires that nuclear reactors being fully decommissioned within 60 years of their deactivation. The final goal of the decommissioning, according to the Corps of Engineers, is full removal and disposal of all the structures and equipment at the SM-1 site, with the cleanup leaving the area available for unrestricted future use.

Once the SM-1 deactivation was completed in 1974, the site was subject to inspections and monitoring. In 1996, the Army conducted in-depth radiological surveys to determine how the site had changed since its deactivation. Radioactive contamination was found in a building and in some of the soil, and eventually 30 drums full of contaminated soil were removed from the site.

The SM-1 facility is located on a 3.6-acre area in the southern portion of Fort Belvoir near Gunston Cove. Aside from the reactor facility, there are smaller buildings/structures on the property, including a 100-foot water intake pier that was used to pull river water from Gunston Cove to cool steam exhaust from the plant’s steam turbine system. A barge and crane operation will be needed to dismantle the pier.

The general public has until January 31 to give feedback on the environmental assessment. A public meeting with be held at the Gerry Hyland Government Center on January 8 (details here).