Demolition begins on former uranium process building

Workers recently began demolition of the X-333 Process Building in Portsmouth, Ohio, after achieving U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management priority to begin the demolition.

“The start of [the] X-333 Process Building demolition marks the next significant step in the final cleanup of the Portsmouth site,” says Jeremy Davis, Portsmouth site lead. “When this building is down, we will further position the site to support the community’s future economic development vision for the site.”

The X-333 is the largest of the three process buildings at the site, with 66 acres of floor space under roof, measuring 1,456 feet long, 970 feet wide and 82 feet high. The building previously housed the largest pieces of the site’s enrichment equipment, including converters that weighed as much as 66,000 pounds each. It is the second of three former uranium process buildings at the site to undergo demolition, following the teardown of the site’s X-326 Process Building demolition completed in 2022.

The three process buildings functioned together to enrich uranium to the desired levels for use in national security and energy production, and X-333 served as the entry point for feed material before material moved to the other two buildings.

According to officials, teardown of the building will take approximately five years, though there may be opportunities to finish the demolition ahead of schedule.

“Although we have incorporated a number of useful lessons learned from the X-326 Process Building demolition, this one will take longer due to the sheer size of the building and building structures, as well as technical challenges,” says Christy Brown, federal project director.

Following deactivation, the building is being taken apart via controlled demolition. Operators are cutting through the structural steel and downsizing the debris for disposal in the on-site waste disposal facility. As each section of the building is torn down, debris will be moved out of the way, cut into smaller pieces, inspected and loaded into trucks before traveling to the disposal facility.

“Safety, as always, is a priority,” says Greg Wilkett, program manager for Portsmouth site contractor Southern Ohio Cleanup Co. “In addition to the numerous workforce controls, other safety measures are in place. During demolition, water is sprayed continuously to suppress dust, and air monitors positioned around the building and the perimeter of the site ensure we keep the environment and the public safe.”