Deactivation Of Building 9206 - A Manhattan Project Era Facility

Deactivation of Building 9206 - A Manhattan Project Era Facility, Mike Malone, Y-12 National Security Complex , Managed and Operated by Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC Building 9206 at the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) was constructed in 1944 for the Manhattan Project as a predecessor to the much larger Building 9212. The purpose of Building 9206 was to perform chemical recycle, metal production, and recovery of highly enriched uranium, as well as to process product from the electromagnetic separation process. From 1944 until 1993, Building 9206 operated to support various production missions for the U.S. Department of Energy and its predecessor agencies. All operations in Building 9206 ceased in 1994 with the stand-down of operations at the Y-12 plant imposed that same year. A significant inventory of residual uranium-bearing materials and contaminated equipment was left behind in the Hazard Category 2 Nuclear Facility. De‑inventory and decontamination of Building 9206 began in 1994 and was conducted intermittently until 2015 with various initiatives and funding sources, but in the absence of a clear deactivation and downgrade strategy. In 2016, with the development of the Building 9212 Exit Strategy, renewed interest for completing the deactivation of Building 9206 led to the development of a nuclear criticality safety downgrade strategy for the 9206 facility. The deactivation accomplishments and lessons learned from Building 9206 are helping to enable the proactive deactivation of Building 9212 prior to its planned shutdown.