Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, X-326 Process Building, 3930 U.S. Route 23 South, Piketon

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER OH-142-C. 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 The Process Building 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 the Process Building. This coordinate was obtained on June 19, 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-C. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Atomic Energy Commission 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-C. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Process Building housed the final phase of the uranium-235 enrichment process, enriching the uranium to the highest enrichment in the DOE complex. This building is part of PORTS, which 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 process for defense/military purposes. Uranium was enriched at PORTS from until May From the end of the Cold War in until production ceased in PORTS enriched uranium for the longest period of time and to the highest levels within the DOE complex.

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

Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth LLC photographed the site in August Gray & Pape, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, served as the primary author of the historical narrative and resource descriptions drawing from numerous historical records and reports, drawings, photographs and plans. For additional contextual information, see Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, HAER no. OH-142. This Process Building HAER was completed in PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 2) Part I. Historical Information In support of this report, there are three appendices that are provided: Appendix A through C, which consist of survey photographs, historical photographs, and historical drawings, respectively.

Construction History of the Process Building: Historic photographs of the Process Building construction are provided in Appendix B. Peter Kiewit Sons Company was the primary contractor and awarded a number of subcontracts for the construction of the Process Building. Taylor-Wheless Company, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, performed the site preparation for the Process Building, which included stripping, excavation, and placement of fill dirt (Figure 6). By early July Ferro Construction Company, of Cincinnati, Ohio, had begun excavating for the foundations and underground installations (Figures 7 through Ultimately, they moved cubic yards of earth and cubic yards of backfill.

During excavation activities, workers maintained a semi-finished work area at all times by removing any unnecessary earth from the work area. All excavation had been completed by the end of November The Ferro Construction Company was also responsible for performing concrete work for the footers, walls, piers, grade beams, elevator pits, instrumentation tunnels, and the basement Area Control Rooms. They began work in July and completed all concrete work on the job in February Ultimately, they poured cubic feet of concrete. A separate contract provided for the construction of concrete floors and equipment foundations. The first pour for the ground floor began in January The ground floor required cubic yards of concrete and 563 tons of reinforcing steel.

The final pour of the floor occurred on May 21, The cell floor slab work commenced in January and ended in July It required square feet of wooden forms, cubic yards of concrete, and tons of reinforcing steel. Concrete work for the process equipment foundations began on February 25, and ended on September 9, The equipment foundations required square feet of forms, cubic yards of concrete, and 275 tons of reinforcing steel. The United States Steel Corporation, of Cleveland, Ohio, won the contract to furnish and erect the structural steel frame of the Process Building (Figures 12 through They also erected 20 electric bridge cranes and forty lube oil tanks in the Process Building.

Structural steel work commenced in September The work progressed from north to south, with all structural steel work completed by mid-April Specifications called for field connections made with high tensile bolts. This was a relatively new technique, and it required special techniques and close supervision. Altogether, the steel framing required machine bolts and high tensile bolts. Erection of the bridge cranes and oil lube tanks occurred simultaneously with the construction of each bay. Each crane had a lifting capacity of 5 tons. The cranes were designed to safely lift and transport the motors, converters, compressors, and condensers beneath their travel paths. Construction of the roof began shortly after the commencement of structural steel work.

In December Brown and Kerr, of Chicago, Illinois, began installing the metal roof deck and built-up roofing. They built-up the roof with vapor seal, insulation and flashing, gutters, downspouts, and roof sumps. They also installed vertical and horizontal copper expansion covers and removed and replaced bent plates. The roof required square feet of steel deck, of board lumber, and square feet of roofing. Brown and Kerr completed the job in May Elwin G. Smith Company, Inc., of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, furnished and installed the corrugated cement asbestos siding, corner finishes, special shapes, flashings, sealers, fasteners, and the sealing of explanation joints and flashing.

They began work at the northwest corner of the building on PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 3) December 18, Upon completion of the north wall of the Process Building, work continued from north to south, with workers installing siding on both sides of the building simultaneously. Workers fastened the siding to the building with lead-headed bolts with zinc alloy collar nuts and neoprene sealer. By January much of the siding work was complete (Figure When the Smith Company completed the work in June they had installed square feet of siding.

As siding installation continued, workers poured concrete for the ground floor (Figure Shortly before completion of the siding, Goodyear Atomic Corporation, the plant s operating contractor, began installing the process equipment (Figures 17 through They initiated work in mid-March and continued through early February The Process Building would require a total of compressors, electric motors, and converters. Historical drawings of building plans are included in Appendix C (Figures 22 through Part II. Site Information Description of the Process Building: The Process Building is located immediately south of the Process Building (Appendix A, Figures 1 through 5) and housed the final phase of the uranium enrichment process.

The uranium enrichment process was initiated in the Process Building and continued in series to the and Process Buildings. The Process Building was used for the highest uranium enrichment phase, at PORTS and within the DOE complex, and enriched product withdrawal. Part of the building was used to produce commercial grade nuclear material (i.e., low-enriched uranium [LEU] product) for use in nuclear power reactors for electric power generation. A portion of HEU produced was used for nuclear navy reactor propulsion. Uranium was enriched at PORTS until May From the end of the Cold War in until production ceased in PORTS produced only LEU for commercial power plants.

Like the other two process buildings and the equipment in the Process Building is on two floors, with the auxiliary equipment, support equipment, and control rooms on the first floor, also known as the operating floor or ground floor. The diffusion process equipment is located on the second floor, known as the cell floor. The smallest of the process buildings at PORTS, the Process Building measures long by wide, stands 62' tall, and encloses an area of about 29 acres (Appendix A, Figures 1 through 5). The height of the building allowed for the installation of duct work, piping, and conduit in the area below the cell floor, as well as vehicular travel.

The west side of the Process Building features a truck alley with an imbedded railroad spur that facilitated transfer of supplies and equipment. A series of truck entrances along the sides of the building further facilitate the movement of vehicles into and out of the building. The overall appearance of the building is rather non-descript. It is, essentially, an immense, rectangular box with no stylistic details. The exterior walls of the Process Building are covered with large, white asbestos cement tiles, also known as transite. A series of elevator shafts protrude from the sides of the throughout the length of the building. The north side of the building features exhaust ducts and metal louvered openings at the filter rooms.

There are no windows in the Process Building; however, "port holes" within the building can be propped open to allow air flow. Employees and equipment enter and exit the Process Building via the X-111A and B monitoring portals. PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 4) The interior finish of the building was designed for cleanliness and sanitation. All the plastered masonry walls within the building were coated with acid-resistant paint to facilitate decontamination activities. Labels were applied to each of the structural columns in the process buildings, as well as stairways and platforms. Each of the cells and their supporting equipment were labeled, as were electrical panels and equipment.

Labels were used for worker safety, maintenance, and operations. Part III. Operations and Process A. Operations: At PORTS, uranium was enriched using a process called gaseous diffusion. Through the process of diffusion, gaseous uranium hexafluoride (UF6) is passed through a conversion system 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 contains uranium-235 at approximately 4 to 5 percent of the total uranium mass. 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 Process Building contains stages. 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 are 12 stages per cell in most of the cells in the Process Building, and the building houses 200 cells. Cells were further grouped into "units," which were groups of cells that shared common auxiliary systems. Each operating unit within the building was divided into two groups of ten cells. The 200 cells in the Process Building are grouped into 10 units.

Ten of the cells in the south end of the building comprise the "purge cascades," each containing six stages per cell. The process equipment, piping, and instrument lines that contained process gas are enclosed by cell housing and bypass housing. The cell housing for the process equipment is metal, and the top of the housing has removable hatches that allow 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. The Process Building contains the smallest pieces of gaseous diffusion equipment at PORTS.

The two sizes of process equipment in the Process Building are referred to as the size, which is the larger of the two sizes, PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 5) and the size, which is the smaller of the two sizes. The and the facilities were designed to operate independently or together. The Process Building also contains the purge and product area. Purging separated and removed light gas contaminants that leaked into the system during the diffusion process. In effect, the Process Building combined the gaseous diffusion facilities that were found in the and installations at the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, now the East Tennessee Technology Park.

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 is located in the northeast corner of the Process Building. B. First Floor: The first floor of the Process Building supports the withdrawal and process auxiliary systems, electric power unit substations, control centers for the process equipment, and enclosed areas for operational use. A series of 22 air intake filter rooms extend along the outside walls at roughly intervals. The east wall of the first floor features three drive-through elevators, each with its own accompanying stairway. The elevator shafts protrude on the outside of the building.

Enclosed areas within the Process Building consist of cinder block structures that stand 10 or 12' in height. They each have a flat, metal deck or concrete slab roof. These enclosures are located along the length of the building. They include Area Control Rooms 4, 5, and 6, a maintenance area, the atmospheric exhaust area, battery rooms, and the withdrawal and purification facilities. Lube oil and coolant system pits are also located on the first floor. The three control areas of the Process Building each have their own control room. These rooms include their own office, men s and women s lounge and restrooms, and a datum station. Floors in these areas are covered with either asphalt tiles or are simply bare concrete.

A basement that provides access to the underground instrument tunnel system is located below each Area Control Room. Floors in the Area Control Room basements consist of unfinished concrete. C. Second Floor (Cell Floor): The process equipment is located on the cell floor. The equipment contains three units (60 cells and 720 stages) and the contains approximately seven units cells and stages). The 10 six-stage "purge cells" are part of the size equipment and were specially designed to remove light gases from the UF6 stream. Access to the cell roofs and overhead valves and equipment is accomplished via steel stairways, ladders, platforms, and catwalks. There are 20 separate stairways per unit. There are also a number of stairways that lead to the roof of the building.

In addition to stairways, there are several freight elevators that provided transportation between the first and second floors. Withdrawal and storage of the high assay (HEU) product gas transpired in the Product Withdrawal Station, located in the southwest corner of the Process Building. Within the Product Withdrawal Station is a gaseous UF6 purification room that consists of a gravity-type system with a tall column that extends above the cell floor. This tower-like structure is enclosed within masonry walls. There are stairs and platforms around the tower to enable workers to operate and maintain the mechanical equipment. There were two withdrawal streams at the Product Withdrawal Station. One withdrawal stream was from the product gas.

The product PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 6) gas was placed in cylinders for brief storage prior to purification. The purified product was then further processed to make the desired radioactive metal. The other withdrawal stream was valved into other parts of the gaseous diffusion cascade. Ninety to 97 percent uranium-235 was withdrawn during HEU production, and 2 to 5 percent uranium-235 was withdrawn at either the Extended Range Product (ERP) or Low Assay Withdrawal stations. The ERP Station is located in the northeast corner of the Process Building and was designed for withdrawal of various enrichments. The ERP station was capable of withdrawing two separate product streams of different enrichments simultaneously.

Because of the shift of plant mission toward LEU, the ERP station was primarily used for LEU withdrawal. The final stage of the diffusion cascade occurred in the Purge and Product Area. The Purge and Product Area contains the 10 six-stage purge cells where the product gas was separated for withdrawal and light gasses were removed from the UF6 stream. The separative equipment is located on the cell floor. A diagram showing the gaseous diffusion "cascade" at PORTS is shown below. PORTS Gaseous Diffusion "Cascade" D. Structural Design: The Process Building is divided longitudinally by transverse roller-type expansion joints located between each of the ten building units.

Engineers designed the columns and framing to accommodate 92' wide crane bays above each of the cells with 20 to 22' wide intermediate braced bays for pipe galleries. Steel trusses, located above the crane bays, provide support for roof purlins (horizontal boards supporting roof rafters). The building s flat, steel deck roof rests atop the purlins. Engineers designed the building s frame to withstand wind loads of 20 pounds per square foot and roof live loads (variable weights on a structure) of 30 pounds per square foot. PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 7) The cell floor of the Process Building is supported by girders and beams, which are connected to the roof support columns and intermediate ground story columns.

The remainder of the floor consists of 6 '' of reinforced concrete. The ground floor slab measures 6'' in thickness and rests atop a compacted stone base. The basements under the control room areas consist of reinforced concrete walls and columns. These structures rest atop rectangular concrete footers. A reinforced concrete beam and girder slab rests atop the basement walls and columns. This slab comprises the floor of the control rooms. PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 8) Part IV. 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. Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis for the Plant Support Buildings and Structures at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Piketon, Ohio, DOE/PPPO/03-0207&D4. Piketon, OH: U.S.

Department of Energy, October 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, Giffels & Vallet, Inc. Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Portsmouth, Ohio, Project History and Completion Report (Redacted). Washington, U.S.

Atomic Energy Commission, Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant Virtual Museum accessed at operated and managed by Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth for DOE. PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 9) Appendix A: Survey Photographs Figure 1: Location and Orientation of Exterior Photographs (2 through 5) PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 10) Figure 2: North Side of the Process Building, August Facing Southwest Figure 3: North Side of the Process Building, August Facing Southeast PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No.

OH-142-C (Page 11) Figure 4: South Side of the Process Building, August Facing Northwest Figure 5: South Side of the Process Building, August Facing Northeast PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 12) Appendix B: Historical Photographs Figure 6: Excavation and Grading Work for the Process Building, July Figure 7: Work Delay Photo for the Process Building, October PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 13) Figure 8: Foundation Work for the Process Building, October Figure 9: Work Delay Photo for the Process Building, October PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No.

OH-142-C (Page 14) Figure 10: Excavation and Foundation Work for the Process Building, October Figure 11: Work Delay Photo for the Process Building, September PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 15) Figure 12: Structural Steel Work for the Process Building, Looking North, October Figure 13: Looking North at the Process Building, December PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 16) Figure 14: Overall View of the Process Building, January Figure 15: Overall View of the Process Area, January PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No.

OH-142-C (Page 17) Figure 16: Looking East at Ground Floor of the Process Building, February Figure 17: Looking East at Cell Floor of Process Building, April PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 18) Figure 18: Cell Floor Unit in the Process Building, May Figure 19: View of Purge and Product Area in Process Building, May, PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 19) Figure 20: Interior View of the Process Building, May Figure 21: View of the Area Control Room Number 4 in the Process Building, August PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No.

OH-142-C (Page 20) Appendix C: Historical Drawings Figure 22: Seismic Modifications to ERP Station Walls, Plan and Elevations PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 21) Figure 23: Ground Floor Part Plan PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 22) Figure 24: Ground Floor Part Plan PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 23) Figure 25: Ground Floor Part Plan PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 24) Figure 26: North and South Elevations PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 25) Figure 27: West Elevation PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No.

OH-142-C (Page 26) Figure 28: East Elevation PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT, PROCESS BUILDING HAER No. OH-142-C (Page 27) Figure 29: North Half Ground Floor Plan