The Low Intensity Test Reactor (LITR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been an iconic facility in nuclear research since its inception in 1951. However, with the high degradation and contamination of the facility, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) identifies its demolition as a priority for 2023.
LITR: a training facility for nuclear research
This follows nearly five years of planning and deactivation work by the Oak Ridge Environmental Management Office and its cleanup contractor, UCOR.
Built as a model of the Materials Test Reactor that was under construction at Idaho National Laboratory, the LITR, also known as the 3005 building, is a training facility for nuclear research. However, reactor experiments have established the feasibility of water-cooled reactors. In addition, LITR is one of the design prototypes for commercial nuclear power plants, according to ORNL information. The blue glow that was first photographed at LITR is Cherenkov radiation, which is observed when electrically charged particles move at faster-than-light speeds in a specific medium.
The 1951 photograph, which appeared on the cover of Scientific American, is the first to reveal the interior of a working atomic pile. Of particular interest to physicists is the blue glow surrounding the fuel elements in a chain reaction.
Demolition of the LITR facility: a technical and logistical challenge for Oak Ridge
Demolition of the LITR facility poses additional challenges and complications. This is due to the unique conditions associated with the facility, such as lack of adequate structural support and insufficient information in the original facility drawings to support work planning. Workers use high-tech equipment to detect previously undocumented radioactive materials in certain areas of the facility. All this is to allow characterization work that cannot be supported by the original drawings.
Workers are now dismantling the ancillary facilities, with the goal of demolishing all structures surrounding the reactor, removing and sampling additional shielding blocks. To dispose of waste, and to dismantle and package the reactor for transport and disposal.
The demolition of LITR follows the recent demolition of the adjacent Bulk Armor Reactor, which was the first removal of a former reactor from the ORNL campus core area. Although the LITR reactor site is relatively small, it plays a critical role in nuclear energy training and research.
As the facility is dismantled, its legacy will live on in the knowledge and experience gained from the innovative experiments conducted at this unique location.
