The Decontamination & Decommissioning (D&D) Program at the Portsmouth Site addresses potential future demolition and disposal of approximately 415 facilities (including buildings, utilities, systems, ponds and infrastructure units) currently identified on the Portsmouth site. This includes the three Gaseous Diffusion Process buildings that housed the process equipment and span the size of 158 football fields. Besides the three large process buildings, the remaining structures consist of extensive support facilities such as electrical switchyards, cooling towers, cleaning and decontamination facilities, water and wastewater treatment plants, maintenance and laboratory facilities, and office buildings.
In 2012, an Action Memorandum for the D&D of 46 plant support buildings and structures was issued. The GDP buildings and support facilities are addressed in the Record of Decision for the Portsmouth Process Buildings and Complex Facilities D&D Evaluation Project.
According to the decision document, DOE's remedy -- which was selected following a multi-year public outreach process, public meetings and a four-month public-comment period -- contaminated facilities will be prepared for demolition by deactivating utilities and removing stored waste, materials, process equipment such as converters and compressors, and piping. These activities will best protect public health and welfare from actual or threatened releases of contaminants.
Although the phases of the D&D Project are generally considered sequential for a particular facility, activities under each phase may be ongoing simultaneously in some facilities because of the massive size of some buildings.