OMR Critical Facility Organic Moderated Reactor Low power critical experiment from 1958-1967
SGR Critical Facility Sodium Graphite Reactor Low power critical experiment from 1958-1967
Site Identification: Building 4009 Organic Moderated Reactor (OMR) Sodium Graphite Reactor (SGR) Includes Buildings 4709, Substation
Operational Use/History: Constructed in 1958. Originally constructed to house the OMR Critical Facility and the SGR Critical Facility. The OMR was a low-power critical experiment facility for testing reactor geometries and fuel elements in a reactor moderated and cooled by organic liquids. The SGR was a low-power critical experiment facility for testing fuel and sodium configurations in a reactor cooled by sodium and moderated by graphite. Both OMR and SGR operated from 1958 to 1967. In 1967, all equipment associated with the OMR and SGR was removed. In the 1980s and early 1990s the facility was used for storage and testing of Rocketdynes In-Service Inspection (ISI) equipment. In the late 1980s, the west high bay was used for high-energy rate forging (HERF) that included handling of high-enriched uranium. Eight hundred pounds of depleted uranium was stored in the facility and shipped off site in the early 1990s. The California Department of Health Services (DHS) released the facility for unrestricted use in January 1999.
Site Description: Building 4009 housed two different reactors. The SGR side consisted of a concrete high bay building 70 feet long by 40 feet wide with a 37-foot high concrete roof and housed the critical assembly cell and a fuel-and-graphite storage area. A concrete block penthouse containing the critical assembly control rod drive mechanisms sat above the critical assembly cell and was serviced by a 5-ton crane that sat above the facility. A contaminated waste holdup tank was buried to the northeast of the SGR side. The adjoining low bay area was a steel frame structure covered with insulated sheet metal and a tar/gravel roof. The low bay supported both sides of the facility housing control rooms, offices and miscellaneous supporting laboratories. The OMR side consisted of a concrete shielded high bay containing the critical assembly area and fuel storage. It was approximately 35 x 63 feet with shield thickness ranging from 1 to 4 feet (depending on height and location) with a built up roof (no shielding). A 45-foot stack was used to discharge exhaust and a leach field is located to the north of the facility as a whole. Serviced by Substation 4709.
MAP of Building 4009 in AREA IV.
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