Challenges in Facility De-Inventory Y-12 Building 9201-5

Building 9201-5 at Y-12 National Security Complex has been a mainstay for many production activities since the 1940s. Now, in its seventh decade of use, manufacturing operations in the facility have been terminated and relocated to other facilities. However, large inventories of depleted uranium and other accountable materials remain in the facility. Some materials need to be maintained, while others have been determined to have no defined use, and are excess to Defense Programs needs. Since operations are no longer performed in the facility, there has been a gradual phase out of routine maintenance over several years. Building services, such as elevators, lighting, etc., are not maintained in the manner that was required when the facility was occupied and operational. Against this backdrop, the B&W Y-12 Material Management Department, supported by the Nuclear Material Management and Storage Program and the NNSA Nuclear Material Management Team, and Directed Stockpile Work (DSW) have been working to remove and dispose of unneeded material, while identifying alternative storage locations for materials that are still required to be maintained for possible future use. The challenges of an aging facility with varying types and degrees of contamination, coupled with issues regarding physical security and material accountability, present an interesting case study in the complexity of deinventory work. Keys to the successes include flexibility in packaging and characterization processes, sound project integration, and a motivated, cooperative work group. The history, results, and challenges will be discussed.