Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, 3930 U.S. Route 23 South, Piketon

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER OH-142. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS), U.S. Route 23 South, Piketon vicinity, Scioto Township, Pike County, Ohio PORTS is located at Ohio State Plane South coordinates at easting ft, northing ft and at Universal Transverse Mercator Zone 17N easting m, northing m. The coordinate represents the approximate center of PORTS. This coordinate was obtained on November 3, by plotting its location in EnviroInsite The accuracy of the coordinates is +/- 12 meters. The coordinate datum is North American Datum Date of Construction: Designer/Builder: Peter Kiewit Sons Construction Company Previous Owner: N/A

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER OH-142. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) oversaw construction and operation of PORTS until when the Energy Research and Development Administration was established with responsibility for research and development duties from In the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) was established, overseeing operations at PORTS.

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER OH-142. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Piketon, Ohio, was a part of the U.S. Cold War nuclear weapons complex. PORTS primary Cold War era mission was the production of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) by the gaseous diffusion plant for defense/military purposes. PORTS was the last of three to be constructed, the first being in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the second in Paducah, Kentucky. Paducah processed low-enriched uranium to provide fuel for nuclear reactors. HEU was processed at only two facilities, Oak Ridge and PORTS. PORTS was the largest producer of HEU, enriched to the highest levels, and its production of HEU spanned the longest period.

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER OH-142. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Fluor B&W Portsmouth Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth and Los Alamos Technical Associates, Inc./Parallax Portsmouth, LLC photographed and documented historic buildings at the PORTS site between and Gray & Pape, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, served as the primary author of the historical narrative and resource descriptions of the historic facilities at PORTS. This Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) was completed in PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 2) Numerous facilities were constructed at the site throughout the history of PORTS.

A description of the site s facilities, including drawings and a discussion of the phases of site development, is found in the National Historic Preservation Act Section 110 Survey of Architectural Properties at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Scioto and Seal Townships, Piketon, Ohio. Facilities that were directly essential to the core, or primary, enrichment operations conducted at PORTS during the Cold War era are identified as "core" facilities. Facilities that operated in support of the work performed at core facilities at PORTS during the Cold War are identified as processing support facilities.

Facilities that were engaged in the mission of PORTS during the Cold War era as either core processing facilities or processing support facilities are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. HAER documentation has been completed for each of the PORTS core processing facilities and processing support facilities listed below. The selection of PORTS core processing facilities and processing support facilities for completion of HAER documentation is recorded in the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Pike County, Ohio: Recommended Cold War Era Mission Documentation Model.

Building surveys and engineering records were completed in accordance with guidelines and procedures outlined in the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Architectural and Engineering Documentation: HABS/HAER Standards. The HAER documentation supports DOE s commitment to preserve the plant s history in words, diagrams, and images of various structures and facilities that make up PORTS and to mitigate adverse impacts from demolition of GDP facilities. PORTS facilities for which HAER documentation has been completed include core processing facilities directly involved in the production of HEU and support facilities.

The processing support facilities are utilitarian in design, largely nondescript in appearance, and in many cases performed basic industrial support functions. However, the application of these basic industrial support functions within the context of PORTS mission is an essential component of the ability to interpret and understand the PORTS site and its role in the Cold War. X-220A Instrumentation Tunnels (HAER No. OH-142-A) Plant Control Facility (HAER No. OH-142-B) Process Building (HAER No. OH-142-C) Process Building (HAER No. OH-142-D) Process Building (HAER No. OH-142-E) X-342A Feed, Vaporization, and Fluorine Generation Facility and Fluorine Storage Building (HAER No. OH-142-F) X-344A Uranium Hexafluoride Gas Sampling Facility (HAER No. OH-142-G) Administration Building (HAER No.

OH-142-H) Auxiliary Office Building (HAER No. OH-142-I) Guard Headquarters (HAER No. OH-142-J) Security Portal (North Portal) (HAER No. OH-142-K) X-111A and Special Nuclear Material Monitoring Portals (HAER No. OH-142-L) South Environmental Sample Station (HAER No. OH-142-M) X-300A Process Monitoring Building (Computer Building) (HAER No. OH-142-N) Maintenance Storage Building (Ash Storage Facility) (HAER No. OH-142-O) Electrical Switchyard Complex (X-530A, X-530E, (HAER No. OH-142-P) Steam Plant (HAER No. OH-142-Q) PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 3) Water Treatment Plant (HAER No. OH-142-R) Elevated Water Tank (HAER No. OH-142-S) X-614A Sewage Pumping Station (HAER No. OH-142-T) Cooling Tower (HAER No.

OH-142-U) Converter Shop and Chemical Cleaning Facility (HAER No. OH-142-V) Decontamination Building (HAER No. OH-142-W) Technical Services Building (HAER No. OH-142-X) Maintenance and Stores Building (HAER No. OH-142-Y) Bulk Storage Building (HAER No. OH-142-Z) Mobile Equipment Maintenance Garage (HAER No. OH-142-AA) Each of these facilities are discussed in separate reports, with the exception of the X-342A Feed, Vaporization, and Fluorine Generation Facility and the Fluorine Storage Building, which are discussed together in a single report, as are the X-111A and Special Nuclear Monitoring Portals. Also grouped together in a single report are the facilities that are part of the Electrical Switchyard Complex (i.e., X-530A, B, C, D, E, F, and G). Part I. Historical Information A.

Construction of PORTS: The Atomic Energy Commission selected an approximate 4,000-acre tract of land in the midst of rolling farm hills along the Scioto River in Southern Ohio (See Appendix A, Figure 1). Unlike the property adjacent to it, the PORTS site was flat; ideal for the government's intended purpose. PORTS is located near the intersection of U.S. Highway 23 and State Route about 4 miles southeast of the village of Piketon, 25 miles north of Portsmouth, 22 miles south of Chillicothe, 23 miles west of Jackson, 75 miles south of Columbus, and about 85 miles east of Cincinnati. In it was announced that Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company would be AEC s operator of PORTS. Goodyear Tire assigned 28 of its key personnel to develop the Goodyear Atomic Corporation.

PORTS was designed on the primary basis that its production rate would be approximately one-half of the expanded Oak Ridge-Paducah combination, the other two uranium enrichment facilities. It was also part of the design philosophy to provide for sufficient flexibility, wherever the economics justified it, to permit efficient combined operation of any two of the three sites in case the third was rendered inoperable for any extended period. The chief implication of this design criteria was the inclusion at the new site of sufficient flow capacity in the top stages to permit efficient operation under production conditions equivalent to those of the Oak Ridge- Paducah combination. The gaseous diffusion process at all three plants occurred in the same manner.

Compressors forced pressurized uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas through a long series of pervious barriers. These barriers are housed inside converters. Each converter and its compressor comprise a cascade and each converter within a cell constitutes a single stage. PORTS consisted of five types of stages and had approximately the same ultimate production capacity as the expanded Oak Ridge Plant but with nearly 800 fewer stages. A more detailed description and illustration of PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 4) the PORTS gaseous diffusion cascade within the operations at PORTS is provided later in this text. Eight architect engineering firms shared in the design of the plant.

Approximately architectural-engineering drawings were used during construction enough to cover approximately 2.5 acres. In addition, general engineering drawings totaled roughly along with more detailed shop drawings. Groundbreaking for the plant occurred on November 18, To provide a suitable area for constructing the process and auxiliary buildings, a tract of land roughly to linear feet was graded to minimum slope for surface drainage. Altogether, site grading required 9 million cubic yards of excavation and backfill. There were strict guidelines on the type of backfill that could be used, the method in which the fill was compacted, and the final density of the fill. A well-compacted base was important for buildings that measured in acres instead of square feet.

The assurance of a minimum of settlement was essential because of the miles of piping which would be mounted in the buildings. At this early stage of the project, a number of activities occurred almost simultaneously. Roads were built around and through the site to allow easy access to construction locations. Track alleys, needed for plant operation, were constructed to facilitate movement of materials and supplies into buildings using tracks. In addition to the track alleys, 22 miles of railroad track and 25 miles of road were laid inside the plant area. The proximity of rail lines figured heavily in the plant site selection process, as rail service was critical for the success of the construction project as well as long-term operation.

Approximately tons of structural steel was used in the framework of the main buildings (See Appendix A, Figure 2). Receiving, unloading, and sorting the thousands of tons of steel at the site on schedule called for efficient teamwork. Standard lumber carriers transferred most of the material to the contractors job locations. The three process buildings were of a standard industrial type with concrete foundations and floors, structural steel frames, siding, and steel deck roof with built-up roofing. Functional and plain, lined sheets of corrugated siding were bolted to the steel structures. In constructing ground floors of the process buildings, wire mesh was put into place, and then concrete poured to form a continuous slab 6 to 8'' thick.

Concrete was struck off by a finishing machine, which advanced the process and decreased labor cost. However, finishing to exact dimensions had to be completed by hand. The process building roofs were nearly flat with just enough slope for roof drainage. The roof was constructed by spot welding a metal decking to the structural steel, on which 1'' fiberglass insulation was laid, covered with four-ply built-up roofing, and finished with a wearing course of cement and gravel. One of the largest and most important operations in the construction work was the fabrication and assembly of the thousands of feet of piping for the process buildings. Piping conveyed the gas from one stage to another in the gaseous diffusion cascade.

Altogether, the plant required linear feet of automatic and hand-welding on pipes ranging from to 4 '' in diameter. Prefabrication of more than individual piping assemblies and pipe hanger assemblies provided great savings in time and money. At peak effort, welders were employed. PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 5) Because of the highly corrosive nature of uranium gases, all steel piping had to be lined with pure nickel. In addition, cleanliness control was essential since the process gas is so highly reactive that it combines and reacts with almost every substance, forming solids that could clog the system. Sections of pipe were dipped in chemical reagents in huge cleaning vats to remove foreign matter.

Each piece of pipe was handled carefully to avoid contamination with dirt, dust, or water. After dipping and cleaning, the ends of the pipes were sealed to prevent matter from entering until piping was welded in place. Process building floors were not only swept but vacuum cleaned to be spotless. The air pressure inside the buildings was kept higher than the air pressure outside to keep dust from getting in. Since the gaseous diffusion process produced great quantities of heat, principally heat of compression, cooling towers were constructed for each of the process buildings to remove the heat. The cooling towers released 20 million gallons/day of evaporated water (steam) into the atmosphere.

The towers were one of the reasons that an adequate water supply was important to the location of the new plant. A pumping station at the Scioto River in Piketon with a daily pumping capacity of 40 million gallons was erected to furnish the plant with water. The water was piped to the plant through a pipeline to the plant s water treatment plant, where it was then distributed throughout the site. Power for the plant was generated by the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation and was delivered to the plant by two double-circuit lines at a nominal volts that was in equal to the all- time high voltage record in the United States. Each circuit had a capacity of kilowatts for line sections 50 to 75 miles in length.

At the plant, the circuits fed into substations that consisted of switchyards, switch houses, and control houses. At the time, the two on-site switchyards required the largest oil circuit breakers ever used in this country. Once the enormous amount of power was stepped down by transformers in the switchyards, it was sent to the thousands of electrical motors and other machines within the plant by way of underground ducts containing a network of conduit, cable, and wiring running from the substation. The building of the plant entailed 69 million work hours from as many as workers at the peak of construction in More than 7.5 million cy of earth had been moved and acres of land cleared. In the first year of construction, an astonishing tons of steel were erected and cy of cement poured.

Site wide, tons of crushed stone was distributed. To complete the construction phase, staggering amounts of materials were required, including tons of railroad rails; 600 miles of pipe (all sizes); miles of copper tubing; miles of electrical wiring; and of welding. In addition, during the construction phase, the 1.2 million gallons of water per day were supplied by three wells. The transformation of the PORTS landscape from rural southern Ohio Appalachian farmland to an industrial expanse occurred over the course of approximately two years. A series of panoramic views shows the progression of PORTS construction from February to October (Appendix A, Figures 3 through 6). B.

Description and Historical Significance of PORTS: Built from to PORTS was one of three built during World War II and the early years of the Cold War. In as a result of its successful record with the U.S. Government, the Peter Kiewit Sons Construction Company was selected by the AEC to build PORTS. Designed to produce HEU for nuclear weapons related purposes, the facility was a significant PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 6) component of the nation s nuclear weapons complex. Like its sister enrichment plants at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Paducah, Kentucky, PORTS was an engineering marvel. The resources required to build the plant were significant.

The main process buildings required some 600 miles of piping, miles of copper tubing, linear feet of welding, tons of structural steel, and more than cy of concrete. Nearly twice the amount of steel was used for the original construction of the main process buildings as was used for construction of the steel skeleton of the Empire State Building, which required tons of steel. To deliver power to the plant s vast cascade system, the AEC contracted for the construction of two separate power plants, each representing the largest such plants of their type in the world. Two electrical switchyards constructed at PORTS received power from the power plants.

When in operation, the two electrical switchyards at the plant site provided up to megawatts of power enough to light up New York City at the time the plant was constructed in the Working around the clock, technicians enriched uranium-235 on an industrial scale. The operation was so successful that within ten years the AEC had produced more enriched uranium than was needed for the nation s nuclear weapons arsenal. Over time, advances in enrichment technology, as well as concerns about energy conservation, management of nuclear waste, and competition from foreign sources of enriched uranium all contributed to the reduced demand for enriched uranium from the gaseous diffusion process. Production at PORTS began winding down in the and in PORTS began to operate in "cold-standby" condition.

In "cold- standby," PORTS was kept in a ready condition in which operations could be resumed in a period of 18 to 24 months if the need arose. In the plant transitioned from "cold standby" to "cold shutdown" to prepare for the eventual D&D cleanup project. C. Historical Background of the AEC and Uranium Processing in the United States: On August 1, with the stroke of President Harry S. Truman s pen, the Atomic Energy Act was signed, and the newly formed AEC assumed its civilian duties of fostering peacetime nuclear science. A parallel, but daunting task had also been given to the AEC and challenges lay ahead.

The Cold War era, which began with the Yalta Conference in and continued until the collapse of the Soviet Union in called for focus on support of national defense and lessened the time and put resources toward the goal of research and installation of non-military uses for the atom. For the security of the nation, weapons development and production took precedence and quickly created a growing need for enriched uranium. The need for increased production would become even more apparent in the years that followed. In it was discovered that the Soviet Union had detonated a nuclear device, prompting the AEC to discuss the need for developing a thermonuclear weapon for national security.

After much discussion within the government, President Truman settled the debate and made the imperative decision that work must begin on such a weapon. More motivation for augmenting production goals came when the United States sent forces to aid South Korea during the Korean War in response to Communist China's advancement in North Korea. The urgency of the situation and the imminent possibility of exhausting the country s enriched uranium production capacity at existing facilities dictated that expansion begin immediately. Because the key production sites across the country relied on one another for different functions of uranium processing, modifications and additions to a number of facilities became necessary. PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No.

OH-142 (Page 7) Prior to construction of PORTS, six key production sites each played a vital role in supporting the government s weapons production program. In addition to its role of gaseous diffusion for separating uranium-235 from uranium-238, at the Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Gaseous Diffusion Plant (Oak Ridge), the Oak Ridge facility enriched lithium-6, a necessary component to increase the yield of thermonuclear weapons. The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico was established in as part of the Manhattan Project for a single purpose: to design and build an atomic bomb.

The Jumbo reactors, K-East and K-West, at the Hanford site near Richland, Washington, (Hanford) were the largest reactors built to produce plutonium at the time, and greatly improved the government's ability to meet the supplementary demands for defense purposes. During this time, Hanford also erected the most advanced chemical separation facility on site to enhance plutonium production. The Paducah, Kentucky, facility (Paducah) would meet the increased demand for (low) enriched uranium. The Savannah River Site, located near Aiken, South Carolina, contributed materials used in the nuclear weapons manufacturing process, primarily tritium and plutonium-239.

The Feed Material Production Center in Fernald, Ohio, (Fernald) was a uranium processing facility that fabricated high-purity uranium metal products ("feed materials"). To complement the enriched uranium production capabilities of the Oak Ridge and Paducah a third site was needed to be able to produce enriched uranium-235 by the process of gaseous diffusion. In addition to the goal of having new gaseous diffusion capability to enhance production at the other two sites, the third site had to meet the security through dispersion requirement that called for the site to be located at least 150 miles away from both the Oak Ridge and Paducah plants. This would place the new site in a strategically safe zone.

The Paducah site, built in had been chosen partially because it was constructed on land already owned by the government. While this decision was certainly affected by time constraints imposed due to the Korean War, selection of the third site could be addressed with more time and consideration. The chronic labor strikes and lack of adequate housing at the Paducah location caused construction delays, and these problems were well noted by AEC personnel seeking the third site. As early as June the AEC requested that Oak Ridge staff begin planning for a third uranium enrichment facility to augment production from the Oak Ridge and Paducah plants.

A nationwide search for a location began in October In the initial phase of site evaluation, Stone & Webster Engineering, the site survey contractor, considered a limited set of criteria. The primary criteria for judging the merit of a location included: (1) readily available and cost-efficient means of producing significant amounts of electricity, (2) a nearby and adequate water supply, (3) access to a necessary labor force while meeting essential transportation requirements, and (4) location in a region where climate and weather would not impede operations and would provide a large area of mainly flat terrain.

By December the site survey had focused on seven areas: three in the Ohio River Valley; and one each in the Kansas City, Missouri area; Birmingham, Alabama area; Shreveport, Louisiana area; and one in the Neosho River Valley area of Oklahoma. Of these, only the Ohio River areas had adequate power supply for the plant during early operation before the planned dedicated power plants were operational. Focused on the three Ohio River Valley areas at Louisville, Kentucky; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Portsmouth-Chillicothe, Ohio, in early the contractor began a second, more detailed evaluation of potential sites in the region. Louisville and Cincinnati were strong candidates, PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No.

OH-142 (Page 8) but Portsmouth was considered a weak third choice due to a deficient highway system and remoteness from a major population center. However, by March Louisville had been eliminated due to widespread protests from area business and civic groups who did not want an Atomic Plant in their community. Cincinnati emerged as the primary candidate location, but demands from labor unions in the area discouraged the AEC from locating in that city. Despite this concern, by April the AEC authorized further planning for a Cincinnati plant. On July 7, the U.S. Congress passed the First Supplemental Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year which allotted billion to fund the estimated construction costs to expand the nation s facilities for producing fissionable materials.

President Truman signed into law an estimated billion to be used for construction of a new GDP and granted authority for its inception on July 15, Work to locate a site for the new enrichment plant actually began a year before the President signed the bill authorizing the construction, but no site had been selected at the time the law was enacted. In early July the AEC selected Peter Kiewit Sons Company as construction contractor for the new plant and directed the company to negotiate with unions in Cincinnati, Louisville, and Portsmouth. By late July, the Fernald site, located near Cincinnati, had experienced work stoppages over pay issues, and it was anticipated the same issues would affect the planned enrichment facility, if it were to be located near Cincinnati.

By contrast, unions at Portsmouth were eager for the jobs and were willing to make commitments favorable to the AEC. Additionally, there was strong community support for the Portsmouth site, with hundreds of businesses, civic organizations, elected officials, and even churches sending letters of support for the A-Plant. Ultimately, these factors were instrumental in site selection. On August 12, the AEC announced selection of Portsmouth as the location for the new uranium enrichment plant and construction of the plant began later that year. Part II. Site Information A. General Description: PORTS was a part of the U.S. Cold War nuclear weapons complex. PORTS primary Cold War era mission was the production of HEU by the GDP for defense/military purposes.

PORTS was the last of three to be constructed, the first being in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the second in Paducah, Kentucky. Paducah processed low-enriched uranium (LEU) initially to provide slightly enriched feed to the Oak Ridge and Portsmouth plants and later to provide fuel for nuclear reactors. HEU was processed at only two facilities, Oak Ridge and PORTS. PORTS was the largest producer of HEU, enriched to the highest levels, and its production of HEU spanned the longest period. The physical preservation of PORTS facilities is not possible due to the environmental challenges posed by the contaminated status of the facilities and the necessary task of environmental restoration. DOE is preserving the unique story of PORTS through documentation and other interpretive measures.

PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 9) B. Operations at PORTS: Once built, the huge complex, with more than 130 buildings, became much like its own small city within the plant site (Appendix A, Figure 7). Services such as a police force and a fire department (complete with emergency equipment), a water treatment facility, a sewage treatment system, an electrical switchyard, a dispensary (hospital), transportation provisions, maintenance shops, offices, and laboratories, all centered around the three huge uranium processing buildings. Office space accommodated those working in finance, human resources, training, and support functions.

The first production operation at PORTS began in On March 20, it was announced that the plant was in full operation, approximately six months ahead of the four years it was scheduled to take. The final cost of the plant was million, million less than the original estimated cost of billion. At PORTS, uranium was enriched using a process called gaseous diffusion. The gaseous diffusion process took place in the and Process Buildings. Through the process of diffusion, UF6 gas is passed through a series of enrichment stages to produce enriched, or diffused, uranium-235 and undiffused uranium-238. The process of uranium enrichment increases the proportion of uranium-235 to that of uranium-238. Enriched uranium is any uranium that contains more than percent uranium-235.

Routine LEU production was between 2.5 to 5 percent uranium-235. The gaseous diffusion process requires the use of UF6 to separate the uranium-238 and uranium-235 isotopes. During diffusion, UF6 gas is forced through a series of porous membranes, or "barriers," with microscopic openings. Barriers are used to achieve separation in the gaseous diffusion process. To maximize the amount of separation achieved, the porous barrier material must meet exacting standards so that "diffusive" flow occurs. Uranium-235 moved through the barriers more easily, increasing the concentration of uranium-235 as it moved through the process. The tendency for uranium-235 to pass through the barrier more quickly is the basis for the gaseous diffusion process.

The basic separation equipment for gaseous diffusion is a "stage." At PORTS, a stage consisted of a converter that contains porous separation media, a gas cooler, a compressor to move the UF6 gas through the converter, and interconnecting piping and control valves to contain and control the gas flows. One stage was capable of only very slight enrichment. Stages operated in a cascading system, and thousands of stages in the process buildings were connected in series to produce HEU. The contained 640 stages, the building contained stages, and the building contained stages. Overall, there were separation stages at PORTS. Stages were grouped into "cells," which were the smallest groups of stages that could be removed from service, bypassed, and shut down for maintenance or other purposes.

There were 12 stages per cell in most of and 200 cells. Ten of the cells at the south end of the building comprised the "purge cascades," each containing six stages per cell. Here, product gas was separated for withdrawal and light gasses were removed from the UF6 stream. had 10 stages per cell and 110 total cells. had eight stages per cell and a total of 80 cells. PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 10) Cells were further grouped into "units," which were groups of cells that shared common auxiliary systems. housed 10 units, had 11 units, and had 8 units. Within a unit, equipment sizes and operating conditions were the same.

There were five equipment sizes at PORTS, the size (Size 8), the size (Size 7), the 0 size the 00 size and the 000 size The 000 size was the largest equipment size and the size was the smallest. The process equipment, piping, and instrument lines that contained process gas were enclosed by cell housing and bypass housing. The cell housing for the Process Building was metal. For and the cell housings had steel frames and transite siding. The tops of the housing had removable latches that allowed for equipment removal. Feed material entered the uranium enrichment process at the Process Building. After cascading through the and Process Buildings, the uranium enrichment process continued in the Process Building. Products were typically withdrawn from the cascade at three points.

LEU was withdrawn from extended range product was withdrawn from using either the Extended Range Product Station in or the Low Assay Withdrawal Station in the and HEU was withdrawn from the purge and product area. The waste (or tails ) stream of the enrichment process was withdrawn from the gaseous diffusion cascade and packaged into storage cylinders. The PORTS tails withdrawal station was located in the northeast corner of the Process Building. PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 11) A diagram showing the gaseous diffusion cascade at PORTS is shown below. PORTS Gaseous Diffusion Cascade Through the remainder of the Goodyear Atomic Corporation activities at PORTS centered on production of weapons grade material, as well as fuel for nuclear marine propulsion.

After more than a decade of hurried production for defense, however, the United States government found itself in charge of vast stockpiles of nuclear weapons and nuclear materials. In the the mission of PORTS changed from enriching uranium for nuclear weapons to one focused on producing fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. PORTS still produced HEU for the U.S. Naval submarine reactor program until PORTS and its sister facility in Paducah worked in tandem to enrich uranium for use in commercial nuclear power plants until The Paducah plant enriched uranium-235 up to percent and then shipped it to PORTS to be further enriched to approximately 4 to 5 percent for nuclear power reactors. PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No.

OH-142 (Page 12) Throughout its life, PORTS experienced many changes to update equipment, modify processes, and increase efficiency of production. Two significant programs were initiated in the Cascade Improvement Program and the Cascade Upgrade Program. These multi-year initiatives increased PORTS production by 65 percent. As a result of the Energy Policy Act, in July the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC), a quasi-government agency, leased and operated the uranium enrichment operations from DOE at PORTS and the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Regulatory oversight of the enrichment plants officially transferred from DOE to the NRC in March USEC completed the privatization process in July and became USEC Inc., an investor-owned corporation.

In May USEC completed a previously announced program to consolidate enrichment operations at Paducah and terminate gaseous diffusion production operations at PORTS. In August DOE contracted with USEC to maintain PORTS in a cold standby mode that would retain a re-start capability at the facility, if necessary, within 18 to 24 months to prevent any potential disruptions in the international enriched uranium market. DOE terminated the cold standby program at the end of Fiscal Year The PORTS facilities were then transitioned into cold shutdown status in preparation for eventual Following the end of the Cold War in DOE began to focus on environmental cleanup of defense nuclear facilities.

Years of nuclear materials production has left DOE with the monumental challenge of D&D of the various materials plants that supported the nation s nuclear weapons and energy programs during the Cold War. An extensive environmental cleanup program began at PORTS in upon agreement between DOE, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. EPA. PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 13) Part III. Sources of Information Benedict, Mason and Clarke Williams. Engineering Developments in Gaseous Diffusion Process. New York: McGraw-Hill Books Company, Inc., Department of Energy. The Role of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Cold War History. Piketon, OH: U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Energy.

Record of Decision for the Process Buildings and Complex Facilities Decontamination and Decommissioning Evaluation Project at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Piketon, Ohio. Piketon, OH: U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Energy. Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Report for the Process Buildings and Complex Facilities Decontamination and Decommissioning Evaluation Project at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Piketon, Ohio, DOE/PPPO/03-0245&D3. Piketon, OH: U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Energy. Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Report for the Process Buildings and Complex Facilities Decontamination and Decommissioning Evaluation Project at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Piketon, Ohio, DOE/PPPO/03-0245&D1. Piketon, OH: U.S.

Department of Energy, August Department of Energy. National Historic Preservation Act Section 110 Survey of Architectural Properties at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Scioto and Seal Townships, Piketon, Ohio, DOE/PPPO/03-0147&D1. Piketon, OH: U.S. Department of Energy, January Department of Energy. Highly Enriched Uranium: Striking a Balance. A Historical Report on the United States Highly Enriched Uranium Production, Acquisition, and Utilization Activities from to September 30, Revision 1. Washington, National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Energy. Report for Environmental Audit Supporting Transition of the Gaseous Diffusion Plant to the United States Enrichment Corporation. Piketon, OH: U.S. Department of Energy1993.

Giffels & Vallet, Inc. Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Portsmouth, Ohio, Project History and Completion Report (Redacted). Washington, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Hudson, Karen E.Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Pike County, Ohio: Recommended Cold War Era Mission Documentation Model. Prepared by Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc., Lexington, KY, PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 14) Appendix A: Historical Photographs Figure 1: View of the Land Acquired for PORTS Construction Figure 2: Peter Kiewit Sons Workers amid the Framework of One of the Processing Facilities PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 15)

Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant Construction

Figure 3: Panoramas Showing PORTS Construction Progression February to July PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 16) PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT CONSTRUCTION Figure 4: Panoramas Showing PORTS Construction Progression August to December PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 17) PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT CONSTRUCTION Figure 5: Panoramas Showing PORTS Construction Progression January to May PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 18) PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT CONSTRUCTION Figure 6: Panoramas Showing PORTS Construction Progression June to October PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT HAER No. OH-142 (Page 19) Figure 7: Aerial View of PORTS