In fall of 2006, Moran Environmental Recovery was contracted to remove 120 asbestos jacketed electrical cables from inside of a secure containment building within the radiological areas of a nuclear plant.   

This sequencing of work was planned for the nuclear units’ refueling outage.  Each jacketed cable to be worked on was approximately 80 feet in length with the cables running in two separate trains (supplies).  The abatement required cutting & wrapping the cables in (6) six-mil poly and placing them inside of containers.  In order to obtain final clearance for the contained area, any visible accumulation of asbestos dust and debris would have to be removed through use of HEPA filtration vacuuming of all surfaces.   

In order to work inside the nuclear facility, the personnel selected for this project had to undergo background investigations before they could enter.  Additionally, the selected crew had to pass through three days of training and examinations on working within a radioactive area.  This included RAD training and obtaining a facility badge prior to entering the secure areas of the power plant.  

For this project, our crew consisted of (14) fourteen full-time personnel headed by James Silvia Sr., Operations/Asbestos Mgr. of our MA/RI division. The work shifts were 12 hours each and the average temperature inside of the contained area was approximately 105 degree Fahrenheit.  The heat exchanger the crew was working near emanated extremely high levels of radiation, limiting the crew’s work-time to 15 minute intervals of exposure.  All personnel wore dosimeters to monitor the level of radioactive exposure, both during the 15 minute intervals, and over the entire duration of the project.  During this project, the nuclear oversight department of the plant monitored our performance of all work related activity via quality verifications.  

This project was completed 30% ahead of the plants time table.  With the additional time available, Moran was contracted to perform additional asbestos abatement of an insulating jacket on a heat exchange with 45 additional fittings.  Moran performed this additional work utilizing glove bag techniques.