Recycling entire DOE facilities: The national conversion pilot project

The National Conversion Pilot Project is being conducted at the U.S. DOE Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) under a cooperative agreement between the DOE and Manufacturing Sciences Corporation (MSC) of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. MSC approached DOE to see if four buildings, metalworking facilities, could be used for recycling radioactively contaminate scrap metal. The resulting issues were then addressed for all DOE sites in three stages: planning and characterization, cleanup and refurbishment, commercial reuse. This article discusses the organization, management, progress, and future of the project.