Plum Brook Station Reactor Facility

"Helping NASA Clean Up Former Reactor Site"

How can the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) most effectively decommission, decontaminate and dismantle a former research reactor site?

MWH is working closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to accomplish this goal in a safe, cost-effective manner at the NASA Plum Brook Station Reactor Facility in Sandusky, Ohio.

In the1960s, this reactor site supported the United States' dream of space travel.

NASA used this complex nuclear testing facility to the effects of radiation on aerospace materials. It featured a 60-megawatt research reactor, a 100-kilowatt mock-up reactor and a hot cell laboratory.

Outstanding Safety Record

Our team of professionals are performing a number of tasks on the US $80 million Plum Brook project, including:

• Decommissioning both outdated reactors and associated facilities
• Decontaminating surrounding areas
• Demolishing all existing structures
• Restoring the property's surface features

MWH won the contract because of our outstanding safety record. We've successfully completed a number of USACE assignments involving hazardous, toxic and radioactive wastes at or below budget.

Our employees characterized, packaged, transported and disposed of approximately 6.5 million pounds of low-level radioactively contaminated material and activated loose equipment.

As the facility restores its illustrious past, it has an important future as well.

NASA retains four active test facilities at Plum Brook Station. These critical national research resources can stimulate space vacuum and temperature conditions. The facilities also test new rocket engines and verify engine performance at Mach 5 through Mach 7 velocities.