ABB Inc. (Formerly C.E. Windsor)

1.0 Site Identification

Type of Site:	Complex Decommissioning Site
Location:	Windsor,CT
License No.:	06-00217-06; SNM-1067
Docket No.:	030-03754; 070-01100
License Status:	Decon
Project Manager:	John Nicholson

2.0 Site Status Summary

The ABB, Inc. (ABB) complex materials site is located in Windsor in north central Connecticut (Figure 1). The site was originally owned by Combustion Engineering, Inc. (CE). Although CE was acquired by ABB in 1990, the site is still referred to as the CE Windsor site. The CE Windsor site consists of soils, buildings, and equipment that were contaminated with uranium and by-product material from operations that occurred from the 1950s until 2001. The site was used to manufacture commercial and U.S. Navy nuclear fuels, and at various times, was used to conduct and support research and development. Activities at the site started in 1955 with an Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) contract to begin research, development, and manufacturing of nuclear fuel for the U.S. Navy. These activities included the construction, testing, and operation of a U.S. Naval test reactor.

The CE Windsor site is 243 ha [600 ac] located in Windsor, Connecticut, approximately 13 km [8 mi] north of Hartford, Connecticut. The site is generally surrounded by heavily wooded sections and agricultural land. It is bounded by the Farmington River to the northwest; a landfill and recycling center to the north; forests, housing, and commercial developments to the east; agricultural and commercial land to the south; and a sand and gravel quarry to the west.

In addition to the fuel fabrication building and the nuclear manufacturing warehouse used for nuclear fuel manufacturing, the CE Windsor site included nuclear laboratories with approximately 5575 m² [60,000 ft²] of floor space, a nuclear test building with 1395 m² [15,000 ft²] of floor space, the Kreisinger development laboratory with 5575 m² [60,000 ft²] of floor space, a storage building, and three ponds: Great Pond, Small Pond, and Goodwin Pond.

ABB submitted a site-wide decommissioning plan (DP) and DP Revision 1 in 2003. The fuel fabrication building, the nuclear test building, and the nuclear laboratories were remediated in 2005 and contaminated materials were shipped to a licensed disposal facility. Final status survey reports (FSSRs) were submitted by ABB to the NRC during 2005-2007. Confirmatory surveys by ORISE and NRC were completed in 2008; and the NRC approved a partial site release in January 2009 for 365 acres of the site. A public meeting was held in Windsor in March 2009 to discuss the partial site release and future NRC oversight activities for the Windsor site.

In January 2008, ABB submitted a revision to DP Rev. 1 that detailed the proposed decommissioning activities for the FUSRAP areas. ABB revised this DP to incorporate additional information requested by the NRC and the DP was resubmitted in December 2008, and was approved by the NRC in July 2009. This DP Rev. 1 authorized ABB to conduct remediation for the remainder of the impacted areas of the site, including FUSRAP areas, except for the site brook and debris piles. ABB submitted DP Rev. 2 in February 2010 that contained information for decommissioning the site brook and debris piles. It also included site-specific derived concentration guideline levels for thorium and radium. An Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for DP Rev. 2 was published in the Federal Register in May 2011. DP Rev. 2 was approved by the NRC in June 2011.

Site remediation work for the remainder of the facility was completed in December 2011. A total of seven FSSRs were submitted to the NRC by ABB from July 2011 through May 2012. Copies of all seven FSSR submittals have been forwarded to USACE for review. The FSSRs are currently under review by the NRC. Upon completion of the remediation activities by ABB, the NRC terminated one of ABB’s licenses (License No. SNM-1067) in February 2012. NRC License No. 06-00217-06 remains in place.

A radiological groundwater monitoring program has been implemented at the CE Windsor site and no radiological contamination in excess of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Maximum Contaminant Levels has been found in the groundwater to date. Groundwater monitoring will continue post-remediation.

3.0 Major Technical or Regulatory Issues

Effective August 15, 2007, USACE suspended its FUSRAP activities for the ABB site until ABB has completed its FUSRAP area decommissioning under NRC jurisdiction.