“The start of X-333 Process Building demolition marks the next significant step in the final cleanup of the Portsmouth Site,” said Portsmouth Site Lead Jeremy Davis. “When this building is down, we will further position the site to support the community’s future economic development vision for the site.”
The teardown of X-333 is expected to take about five years to complete, although there are opportunities to finish the job earlier, according to DOE-EM.
Watch a video about the start of structural demolition of Portsmouth’s X-333 Process Building here.
Gaseous diffusion: Three buildings—X-326, X-330, and X-333—housed the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which enriched weapons-grade uranium for defense purposes and later low-enriched uranium for commercial nuclear power plants until ceasing operations in 2001.
During their operational heyday, the three process buildings functioned together as a cascade to enrich uranium to the desired levels. X-333 served as the entry point for feed material for the cascade before the material moved to the other two buildings.
The X-333 building has 66 acres of floor space under roof and measures 1,456 feet long, 970 feet wide, and 82 feet high. The building once housed the largest pieces of the site’s enrichment equipment, including converters that weighed as much as 66,000 pounds each.
Demolition of the X-326 Process Building, the smallest of the three, was completed in June 2022.
Demolition process: By the end of 2024, crews had completed the deactivation of X-333, which involved characterizing the building and equipment from a radiological standpoint; disconnecting process equipment; segmenting, crushing and preparing waste for shipment or disposal; removing asbestos and other hazardous waste; isolating and disconnecting utilities; and other work.
With deactivation complete, the building is now being taken apart piece by piece using a controlled demolition process. Operators cut through the structural steel and downsize the debris for disposal at Portsmouth’s On-Site Waste Disposal Facility.
“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,” Federal Project Director Christy Brown said.
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