Workers at the Blue Grass plant are completing a series of strict air-monitoring tests in the Munitions Demilitarization Building that, if completed successfully, will mark another closure milestone.
“The unventilated monitoring test is a precise measurement of residual chemical agent and determines whether a room is sufficiently decontaminated to meet our Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permit requirements and is safe for demolition,” said Steve Brow, technical support specialist, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, or BPBG.
During unventilated monitoring tests, or UMTs, rooms must be airtight, meaning all doors, windows, vents and ducts must be sealed. The tests are designed to determine whether even small amounts of chemical agent remain in the room, in cracks, porous surfaces or hidden areas, said Dr. George Lucier, closure chief scientist, BPBG.
Not only are the rooms and ducts sealed, but also between 17 and 35 fans are placed strategically in the area to make sure the air is well circulated. Heaters are used to maintain room temperatures of at least 70 degrees, which is another requirement, Brow said.
“One of the tougher challenges is getting a well-mixed room,” Brow said.
The tests come after workers spent months removing equipment, tanks and piping and then decontaminating rooms with pressure washing, removing floor coatings, and scouring the smallest of spaces in the Munitions Demilitarization Building, or MDB. Workers have conducted numerous dry runs to see if more remediation is needed and to train to make sure the tests meet the highest standards.
“It’s part of our commitment to safety, a systematic process moving the Blue Grass plant closer to closure of the MDB,” Lucier said.
Final UMTs in the main plant are on track to be completed in the next few weeks. Following that, the duct work that exits from the various rooms across the MDB roof to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning carbon filters will be tested. Lastly, the 14 filter exhaust plenums will undergo the UMT process. An exhaust plenum is an enclosure that contains the filters, carbon banks and a fan to pull air out of the MDB and clean it before being released to the atmosphere.
