ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories invites media representatives to watch the start of demolition of an 18,000-square-foot steam plant that has been part of the skyline at the federal laboratory for 60 years.
The demolition of the obsolete facility marks the completion of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s $60 million Heating System Modernization program, which is part of the NNSA’s Facilities and Infrastructure Recapitalization Program (FIRP). FIRP is aimed at eliminating or modernizing substandard facilities across the nation’s nuclear weapons enterprise and reducing a large maintenance backlog that developed during the 1990s.
Leaders from the NNSA and the local community will attend the event that will include a ceremonial demolition effort, followed by the start of actual demolition. The celebration will be Thursday, May 27, from 9-10:30 a.m.
News media representatives are asked to call 505-844-4902 if planning to attend the start of demolition celebration. More information about the event is available from Heather Clark (505-844-3511) or Stephanie Holinka (505-401-3970). Media wishing to attend will meet an escort in the parking lot near the Kirtland Air Force Base Gibson Boulevard gate by 8:30 a.m.
The red brick building, which rises to four stories on its northern side, was designed by Black & Veatch of Kansas City, Mo., and the U.S. Corps of Engineers in Albuquerque. It also once heated the surrounding military base.
At one time, the plant was known for its efficiency. In 1960, during a cold snap, its production reached a peak rate of water converted to steam per hour of more than 180,000 pounds.
Deferred maintenance costs and equipment corrosion issues that made the system inefficient led to a 2004 decision to replace the aging centralized heating system with local boilers placed in buildings or groups of buildings in Sandia’s main research campus, which has now been completed, said Jim Smith, project manager of Heating Systems Modernization.
“I love steam boilers. Any time you take something down, there’s always going to be that nostalgia, but by the same token it’s the right thing to do,” Smith said.
About 80 percent of the work to modernize the heating system was completed by small businesses, one of which grew to become a large business while it was working on the project. Over three years during the summers, the companies converted 47 buildings from the centralized system to local boilers. They installed 106 hot water boilers, five steam boilers, new natural gas connections and meters, Smith said.
The new heating system will save nearly 12 million gallons of water a year. It is about 85 percent efficient, compared to the 65 percent efficiency rating for the old boilers. It will reduce both heat energy usage and pollutants by about 60 percent, Smith said.
Sixty percent of the materials that were removed from buildings to prepare for the installation of the local boilers were recycled, he said. The building will come down over the next six to eight weeks and all the debris, most of which will be recycled, should be removed from the site by the end of September, Smith said.
Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.
Sandia news media contact: Heather Clark, hclark@sandia.gov (505) 844-3511