Army Corps of Engineers schedules public meetings on decommissioning, dismantling of Cold War-era SM-1A
A team of specialists with the Army Corps of Engineers and a contractor has completed another round of work in preparation of a decommissioning and dismantling project on the old mothballed SM-1A nuclear power plant at Fort Greely.
The specialists spent about four weeks at the SM-1A site in January and February, according to an update on the project the Corps issued Friday. They mainly surveyed the plant’s vapor container, or VC, where gaseous byproducts were captured and stored while the plant was in operation during the 1960s and early ’70s.
The update says team members opened the VC to check for possible safety, structural and radiation-contamination issues. The also examined materials encasing the V-C, then re-sealed it after the analysis was completed.
The work was conducted by specialists with the Corps and its contractor, Louisiana-based Aptim-Amentum Alaska Decommissioning. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2029.
The update says Corps officials will hold three public meetings this month to talk about upcoming work on the project. The first will be on March 21st at Fort Greely’s Community Activity Center; the second on March 25th in Delta Junction’s community center; and the third on March 26th at the Clarion Hotel in Fairbanks.
