EXPLOSIVES DEMOLITION | Paducah Fire Water Tank

The Controlled Demolition (CDI) and American DND team was chosen by Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership, LLC to plan, oversee, and safely execute the preparation for and precise felling of the 300,000 gallon, 308’-6” tall High Pressure Water Tank (HPWT) at the US Department of Energy (DOE) Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) using a controlled explosives felling method. This method was chosen due to its high Factor of Safety (FoS), minimized manhours at risk as compared to piecemeal dismantling, and provided the highest degree of certainty in removing the HPFW tank safely. When cutting and pulling legs under a cable tripping method, the uneven stresses created on the back legs could have caused the tower to twist and fall in an unintended location, which was an unacceptable outcome at the highly controlled/congested operational DOE facility.

CDI first reinforced the tank support structure with cables and then performed pre-burning under supplied air conditions. CDI then placed linear shaped charges (LSCs) on three (3) of the six (6) support legs on the HPFW tank to create an eccentric load and hinges about which CDI rotated the tower in its designated direction of fall. Once the LSCs were detonated and the selected column sections removed, the water tank was inclined toward the predetermined fall area.

CDI successfully felled the HPFW tank, exactly per plan, on May 31, 2024. The tank impacted within 15’ of CDI’s designed centerline of fall to the southwest, without damage to the Quonset Hut to remain, or negative impact on the structures to remain to the northwest, the overhead powerlines 40’ to the east, and operational rail lines located 75’ to the south.

Recorded vibration and peak air overpressure were well within the stringent allowances given the operational DOE facilities adjacent to the tower demolition site.