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NASA - MOCKUP

1.0 Site Identification

Location:	Cleveland, OH
License No.:	R-93
Docket No.:	50-185
License Status:	Decon
Project Manager:	Chad Glenn

2.0 Site Status Summary

After many years of little to no activities at the Plum Brook reactor site, decommissioning is well underway. While awaiting U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approval of the Decommissioning Plan (DP), NASA prepared the reactor facility by conducting pre-decommissioning activities under its POL Amendment. NRC approved the DP in March 2002.

3.0 Major Technical or Regulatory Issues

In 2005, NASA discovered radioactive contamination off the NASA Plum Brook test reactor site near Sandusky, Ohio. The material was identified as cesium-137 and cobalt-60 in a drainage ditch leaving their property, and in Plum Brook approximately one mile downstream towards Lake Erie. The radioactive materials are likely the result of reactor operations which ended in about 1973. Sediment samples identifed up to 38 pCi/l cesium-137 (background is about 1 pCi/g). The stream, on its five-mile journey to Lake Erie, crosses residential areas, school-owned lands and a golf course. In 2008, NASA completed a characterization study to further assess the nature and extent of contamination in Plum Brook. The results of this study will be used with other information to inform any future remediation actions.

4.0 Estimated Date For Closure

12/31/2010