U of A to Host SEFOR Open House Before Clean-up Begins

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Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas and its contractor, Energy Solutions, will hold an open house for community members who want to tour the inside of the decommissioned nuclear test reactor known as SEFOR, and learn more about the plans to clean up and dismantle the facility.

The open house will be held from 1-3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, at the SEFOR site off Highway 265 near Strickler. Tours inside the facility will be available for anyone 18 years or older who does not have mobility issues. Everyone is asked to wear long pants. Open-toe shoes will not be permitted. On-site parking will be available, but carpooling is encouraged. Cameras will be permitted on the tours, but no other personal property, such as handbags. Hardhats, safety glasses, dust masks and safety vests will be provided for the tours. Anyone going on a tour will also be asked to sign a standard U of A “Liability Release.”

“In December we held a public meeting in Strickler about our SEFOR plans and promised the people that this will be an entirely transparent process,” said Mike Johnson, U of A associate vice chancellor for facilities. “We introduced the people from Energy Solutions, who presented the clean-up plan and answered questions for more than an hour. We promised to hold an open house in January, and we are making good on our promise.”

SEFOR — officially the Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor — was a 20-megawatt sodium-cooled nuclear test reactor built in 1968 near the Strickler community in Washington County. SEFOR was decommissioned in 1974, and its nuclear fuel and coolant were removed. The U of A has been caretaker of the facility since 1975, and has sought federal funding to dismantle it for more than four decades. This fall U.S. Sen. John Boozman and U.S. Rep. Steve Womack announced a $10.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to begin removing the remaining hazardous materials, demolish the buildings, and return the site to green field conditions.

Energy Solutions handled a preliminary evaluation of the SEFOR site in 2009 and was selected to continue this second phase of the project. The University of Arkansas has applied for a second grant from the Department of Energy to complete a final, third phase, which, if funded, could be finished by the middle of 2018.