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The former Fernald Feed Materials Production Center, or often referred to as the Fernald site, was located in rural Fernald, Ohio just west of Cincinnati. The Fernald site was selected by the US Atomic Energy Commission (predecessor agency to DOE) in 1951 to convert uranium ore into uranium metal and to fabricate target elements for nuclear reactors. The Fernald site was selected over 60 other locations. Rural and undeveloped area, flat land, skilled labor, abundant water supply, and closeness of metropolitan Cincinnati were all major factors of the Atomic Energy Commission's selection.
The Fernald site was completed in 1954, though work began in 1951. The site comprised more than 1,000 acres, 136 of that was the main production area, and the rest was used for administration facilities, laboratories, and waste storage. There were ten main production plants at the Fernald site, each of which had a specific role in the uranium refining process.
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End products from the Fernald site such as ingots, derbies, billets, and fuel cores, were transferred to other sites in the nuclear weapons complex for further production. In particular, depleted and enriched uranium and fuel core elements were sent to the Hanford and Savannah River sites, derbies were sent to the Oak Ridge site, and slab billets were sent to the Rocky Flats site. Individual knowledge of weapon production was also passed along to other sites. Fernald workers often provided incite into the uranium production process at their facility. This shared knowledge helped increase uranium production technologies and improve the production process at other sites.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s labor was booming and demand was high for uranium feed materials. However, the 1970s brought less demand, and naturally production slowed and employment dropped. By the early 1980s, production increased, but by the end of the 1980s, with the conclusion of the Cold War, production at Fernald reached its lowest point and ended. By 1991, congress officially approved the final closure of the Fernald Feed Materials Production Center and authorized the environmental remediation mission.
The Fernald site was managed and operated by National Lead of Ohio (NLO) from 1951-1986. Westinghouse Material Company of Ohio operated the facility from 1986 until 1989 and worked on the initial stages of the environmental remediation mission. Cleanup and restoration activities began at the Fernald site in 1992 with DOE's first remediation contract being awarded to FERMCO, later renamed Fluor Fernald. Fluor Fernald managed and operated the Fernald Closure Project from 1992 until its completion in 2006. There was 31 million net pounds of nuclear product, 2.5 billion pounds of waste, and 2.5 million cubic yards of contaminated soil on the site when cleanup activities began.
The Fernald Closure Project was divided into ten major parts by the contractor Fluor Fernald: silos one and two, silo three, waste pits, off site waste disposition, soil and disposal facility project, aquifer restoration, building decontamination and demolition, waste management, nuclear material disposition, and environmental restoration.
Silos one and two had a combined 8,900 cubic yards of low-level radioactive waste. To remove this, all of the waste had to be stabilized, treated, and placed in steel canisters. After the waste was put into steel canisters, it was transferred offsite for permanent disposal at the Waste Control Specialists site in Texas. Silos one and two were safely shutdown, demolished, and completed in 2006. [Silos 1 & 2]
Silo three had over 5,100 cubic yards of low level waste. To remove this waste, it was packed into 2,300 soft-side packages and shipped off to Envirocare in Utah. Silo three was safely shutdown, demolished, and successfully completed in 2006. [Silos 3]
The waste pits at the Fernald site were 13 to 30 feet deep and some extended beyond 100 yards in length. It took six years and 154 trainloads to ship nearly one million tons of waste to the offsite disposal facility. There were six wastes pits in total and this portion of the project was completed in 2005. [Waste pits]
The off site waste disposition project was completed in 2006. Soil and debris with higher levels of contamination were transferred off site for final disposal. Altogether, 212,896 tons of contaminated soil and debris packed in a total of 2,043 railcars was removed and transferred off the Fernald site. [Off site waste disposition]
The construction of the on-site soil and disposal facility was a major part of the overall cleanup project. 2.5 million cubic yards of soil, foundations, and below grade piping had to be removed, compacted, and disposed of on site. The On-Site Disposal Facility (OSDF), constructed in 1997 and completed in 2006, holds all 2.95 million cubic yards of disposed waste. The OSDF is 65 feet high, 800 feet wide and 3,700 feet long. It is currently monitored by the Office of Legacy Management to ensure that there is no leakage, and holds the only remaining elements of the former Fernald Feed Materials Production Center. [Soil and disposal facility project]
The wastewater treatment facility treats and restores the Great Miami Aquifer. It has 20 extraction wells that pump out nearly 5,000 gallons of water per minute. The wastewater treatment facility has treated more than 11 billion gallons of water and has removed more than 7,500 pounds of uranium from the aquifer. The waste water treatment facility will continue to treat the contaminated portions of the Great Miami Aquifer until cleanup standards meet EPA requirements. [Aquifer restoration]
259 buildings were decontaminated and demolished at the Fernald site. The demolition of buildings began in 1994 and concluded in 2006 when the site was officially completed. Much of the scrap and low level waste from these buildings were disposed of at the OSDF. [Building decontamination and demolition]
The waste management portion of the Fernald Closure Project was completed in 2005. Low-level radioactive, hazardous, and mixed wastes were characterized, inspected, sampled, and disposed of on and off site. A stress was placed on recycling these wastes whenever possible. In all, 6.6 million cubic feet of low-level waste was shipped to the Nevada Test Site, 174,912 gallons of low-level liquid mixed waste was shipped off for incineration, 59,147 cubic feet of low-level mixed waste was shipped off site for treatment, and 792,510 cubic feet of low-level waste was disposed of at the OSDF. [Waste management]
The nuclear materials disposition portion of the cleanup project, completed in 2005, transferred 31 million pounds of nuclear material off of the Fernald site. This material was sold to private companies, redirected and stored temporarily at the Portsmouth plant, and used for other DOE projects. [Nuclear materials disposition]
Restoring the native ecology at the Fernald site was the final step in the cleanup process. 900 acres of the site were restored to mirror original ecosystems found in southeast Ohio before settlement occurred. The ecological restoration at the Fernald site has brought the site to what it is today, one of the largest man-made wetlands and nature preserve in Ohio. [Restoring ecology]
The Fernald Preserve is the present and future of the Fernald site. With a 10,000-square-foot green building Visitors Center, educational presentations, community outreach and support, guided tours, and over 300 species in habitation, the Fernald closure and cleanup site has truly come full circle.
Contact:
Johnny Reising
250 E. 5th St. Suite 500
Cincinnati, OH 45202
(513) 648-3139
Serviced Sites About EMCBC Offices Serviced Sites DOE Links Contact Hot Topics Visitor Information Useful Links FOIA/PA Serviced Sites -- Select Site --Ashtabula Closure Project (Closed) - Ashtabula, OHArgonne National Laboratory - Ar
The former Fernald Feed Materials Production Center, or often referred to as the Fernald site, was located in rural Fernald, Ohio just west of Cincinnati. The Fernald site was selected by the US Atomic Energy Commission (predecessor agency to DOE) in 1951 to convert uranium ore into uranium metal and to fabricate target elements for nuclear reactors. The Fernald site was selected over 60 other locations. Rural and undeveloped area, flat land, skilled labor, abundant water supply, and closeness of metropolitan Cincinnati were all major factors of the Atomic Energy Commission's selection.
The Fernald site was completed in 1954, though work began in 1951. The site comprised more than 1,000 acres, 136 of that was the main production area, and the rest was used for administration facilities, laboratories, and waste storage. There were ten main production plants at the Fernald site, each of which had a specific role in the uranium refining process.
<
End products from the Fernald site such as ingots, derbies, billets, and fuel cores, were transferred to other sites in the nuclear weapons complex for further production. In particular, depleted and enriched uranium and fuel core elements were sent to the Hanford and Savannah River sites, derbies were sent to the Oak Ridge site, and slab billets were sent to the Rocky Flats site. Individual knowledge of weapon production was also passed along to other sites. Fernald workers often provided incite into the uranium production process at their facility. This shared knowledge helped increase uranium production technologies and improve the production process at other sites.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s labor was booming and demand was high for uranium feed materials. However, the 1970s brought less demand, and naturally production slowed and employment dropped. By the early 1980s, production increased, but by the end of the 1980s, with the conclusion of the Cold War, production at Fernald reached its lowest point and ended. By 1991, congress officially approved the final closure of the Fernald Feed Materials Production Center and authorized the environmental remediation mission.
The Fernald site was managed and operated by National Lead of Ohio (NLO) from 1951-1986. Westinghouse Material Company of Ohio operated the facility from 1986 until 1989 and worked on the initial stages of the environmental remediation mission. Cleanup and restoration activities began at the Fernald site in 1992 with DOE's first remediation contract being awarded to FERMCO, later renamed Fluor Fernald. Fluor Fernald managed and operated the Fernald Closure Project from 1992 until its completion in 2006. There was 31 million net pounds of nuclear product, 2.5 billion pounds of waste, and 2.5 million cubic yards of contaminated soil on the site when cleanup activities began.
The Fernald Closure Project was divided into ten major parts by the contractor Fluor Fernald: silos one and two, silo three, waste pits, off site waste disposition, soil and disposal facility project, aquifer restoration, building decontamination and demolition, waste management, nuclear material disposition, and environmental restoration.
Silos one and two had a combined 8,900 cubic yards of low-level radioactive waste. To remove this, all of the waste had to be stabilized, treated, and placed in steel canisters. After the waste was put into steel canisters, it was transferred offsite for permanent disposal at the Waste Control Specialists site in Texas. Silos one and two were safely shutdown, demolished, and completed in 2006. [Silos 1 & 2]
Silo three had over 5,100 cubic yards of low level waste. To remove this waste, it was packed into 2,300 soft-side packages and shipped off to Envirocare in Utah. Silo three was safely shutdown, demolished, and successfully completed in 2006. [Silos 3]
The waste pits at the Fernald site were 13 to 30 feet deep and some extended beyond 100 yards in length. It took six years and 154 trainloads to ship nearly one million tons of waste to the offsite disposal facility. There were six wastes pits in total and this portion of the project was completed in 2005. [Waste pits]
The off site waste disposition project was completed in 2006. Soil and debris with higher levels of contamination were transferred off site for final disposal. Altogether, 212,896 tons of contaminated soil and debris packed in a total of 2,043 railcars was removed and transferred off the Fernald site. [Off site waste disposition]
The construction of the on-site soil and disposal facility was a major part of the overall cleanup project. 2.5 million cubic yards of soil, foundations, and below grade piping had to be removed, compacted, and disposed of on site. The On-Site Disposal Facility (OSDF), constructed in 1997 and completed in 2006, holds all 2.95 million cubic yards of disposed waste. The OSDF is 65 feet high, 800 feet wide and 3,700 feet long. It is currently monitored by the Office of Legacy Management to ensure that there is no leakage, and holds the only remaining elements of the former Fernald Feed Materials Production Center. [Soil and disposal facility project]
The wastewater treatment facility treats and restores the Great Miami Aquifer. It has 20 extraction wells that pump out nearly 5,000 gallons of water per minute. The wastewater treatment facility has treated more than 11 billion gallons of water and has removed more than 7,500 pounds of uranium from the aquifer. The waste water treatment facility will continue to treat the contaminated portions of the Great Miami Aquifer until cleanup standards meet EPA requirements. [Aquifer restoration]
259 buildings were decontaminated and demolished at the Fernald site. The demolition of buildings began in 1994 and concluded in 2006 when the site was officially completed. Much of the scrap and low level waste from these buildings were disposed of at the OSDF. [Building decontamination and demolition]
The waste management portion of the Fernald Closure Project was completed in 2005. Low-level radioactive, hazardous, and mixed wastes were characterized, inspected, sampled, and disposed of on and off site. A stress was placed on recycling these wastes whenever possible. In all, 6.6 million cubic feet of low-level waste was shipped to the Nevada Test Site, 174,912 gallons of low-level liquid mixed waste was shipped off for incineration, 59,147 cubic feet of low-level mixed waste was shipped off site for treatment, and 792,510 cubic feet of low-level waste was disposed of at the OSDF. [Waste management]
The nuclear materials disposition portion of the cleanup project, completed in 2005, transferred 31 million pounds of nuclear material off of the Fernald site. This material was sold to private companies, redirected and stored temporarily at the Portsmouth plant, and used for other DOE projects. [Nuclear materials disposition]
Restoring the native ecology at the Fernald site was the final step in the cleanup process. 900 acres of the site were restored to mirror original ecosystems found in southeast Ohio before settlement occurred. The ecological restoration at the Fernald site has brought the site to what it is today, one of the largest man-made wetlands and nature preserve in Ohio. [Restoring ecology]
The Fernald Preserve is the present and future of the Fernald site. With a 10,000-square-foot green building Visitors Center, educational presentations, community outreach and support, guided tours, and over 300 species in habitation, the Fernald closure and cleanup site has truly come full circle.
Contact:
Johnny Reising
250 E. 5th St. Suite 500
Cincinnati, OH 45202
(513) 648-3139