The demolition of the Nuclear Facilities Operations Building (office space and change rooms) marks the conclusion of a long chapter in Chalk River Laboratories’ history. Constructed between 1946 and 1952, this building has served various roles over the decades. Originally intended to be an office space with a large changeroom and shower area for workers, it was later expanded in 1953 with a second floor to accommodate more office needs.
After more than three quarters of a century of service – and with the shutdown of the National Research Universal reactor in 2018 – the building was no longer needed as a reactor support facility. As there were minimal safety concerns involved and Chalk River staff had kept the building in a safe and secure state , the project team from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ (CNL) Facilities Decommissioning group was able to accelerate the demolition timeline.
The team carried out the project in four phases. First, they characterized the building to confirm the waste could be considered clean. Next they undertook a hazard abatement campaign, which included a significant amount of manual labour to remove hazardous material. The third phase focused on building isolations. Staff ensured critical services were safely isolated during two major scheduled outages: the Spring Steam Shutdown for steam and condensate isolation and the Sitewide Electrical Outage for electrical isolation. The final phase of work involved the physical demolition of the structure.
This milestone represents another significant step in CNL’s ongoing efforts to safely manage and decommission legacy facilities, ensuring the continued safety and sustainability of the site for future generations.
