Officially off the books: DOE approves completion of first LANL Recovery Act project

Critical Decision 4 signed for fusion facility demolition; first for DOE Recovery Act work

The trademark "TSTA" letters fall to the excavator during demolition at TA-21 in May. Photo by Patricia Leyba.

October 1, 2010—The building is down, the rubble is gone, and LANL has obtained the Department of Energy’s first “CD-4” approval for a Recovery Act capital project.

DOE officials on Monday signed documents approving “Critical Decision 4,” or completion of a capital project, for the demolition of the former Tritium Systems Test Assembly facility at Technical Area 21.  It was DOE’s first CD-4 for a Recovery Act environmental cleanup project since stimulus work began in mid-2009.

Under budget, ahead of schedule

The $14 million project was completed under budget and two weeks ahead of schedule. The 18,000 square foot building with the familiar “TSTA” painted on the side is now gone from the TA-21 skyline.

“We demolished a building, reduced offsite dose and releases to the environment, and did it without an injury to personnel,” said Recovery Act demolition program manager Al Chaloupka. “It’s a great success.”

“It’s good to get this one under our belt,” said Everett Trollinger, the NNSA’s director of Recovery Act cleanup projects at LANL. “It’s the first official completion of Recovery Act environmental work in the DOE complex and I’m proud of our team.”

NNSA and EM cooperation

It’s also an example of cooperation between NNSA and DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, which provided $212 million for LANL cleanup and environmental monitoring.

Waste removal was done by the Los Alamos office of North Wind, Inc. and demolition work was performed by Innovative Technical Solutions, Inc. of Walnut Creek, California. Both companies are small business subcontractors, used a largely local workforce, and have since won additional contracts at the Lab.

Time-lapse on YouTube

As demolition began in May, former TSTA workers gathered to say goodbye to their pioneering lab, which conducted early research into nuclear fusion as an energy source.  Hear their memories and watch time-lapse video of the demolition in the YouTube video below.