Status of decommissioning activities at the Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP) site

The Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP) was formally closed and the mission of the facility was officially redirected toward environmental restoration in August 1991. Many of the production facilities and equipment still contained quantities of raw, intermediate, and finished production-related materials. The safe Shutdown program was initiated to remove and properly disposition all nuclear product and in process residue materials, supplies, chemicals, and associated process equipment that was abandoned in place when FEMP stopped production in 1989. As part of the remedial design of the interim remedial action, a schedule for building dismantlement was submitted in June 1995. A 31-year schedule was developed, based on anticipation of reduced funding levels. However, recent cleanup successes at Fernald led to DOE endorsement of greater funding for the final cleanup, accelerating the schedule for Operable Unit 3 dismantlement, reducing the schedule to ten years. Under the accelerated schedule, several plants will be dismantled, starting in 1996