No. I-07-045 

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 

Sept. 11, 2007 

NRC, FIRM TO DISCUSS PROPOSED CHANGE TO DECOMMISSIONING PLAN 

FOR FORMER NUCLEAR MATERIALS SITE IN WINDSOR, CONN. 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff and representatives of ABB, Inc., will meet on 

Friday, Sept. 14, to discuss the company’s plans to supplement the decommissioning plan for a 

former nuclear materials site in Windsor (Hartford County), Conn. The meeting is scheduled to 

begin at 10 a.m. in the Public Meeting Room at the NRC’s Region I Office, 475 Allendale Road 

in King of Prussia, Pa. 

Members of the public will be able to attend the session and will have an opportunity to 

ask questions and/or offer comments before it is adjourned. 

ABB, Inc., (formerly Combustion Engineering-Windsor) manufactured nuclear fuel at the 

site, which is bordered by Day Hill Road to the south. It was also used at various times to 

conduct and support nuclear research and development work, including the construction, testing 

and operation of a U.S. Naval test reactor. The activities began in the mid-1950s and continued 

until 2001. As a result of those operations, soils, buildings and equipment surfaces were 

contaminated with uranium and byproduct material, both of which are radioactive. 

On April 7, 2003, ABB, Inc., submitted a site-wide decommissioning plan to the NRC. 

A revised plan that included radiation dose-modeling information was submitted on Oct. 15, 

2003. Several buildings on the site were subsequently demolished and the waste materials 

shipped off-site to a licensed disposal facility. 

Meanwhile, certain portions of the site were to be remediated by the U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). Radioactive 

contamination resulted from defense-related activities at the facility. The buildings and areas 

where the defense-related materials are located were used by the U.S. Atomic Energy 

Commission prior to the early 1960s, when the first nuclear fuel manufacturing license was 

issued to Combustion Engineering. 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region I 

475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 

E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov
 Site studies have identified areas where the commercially generated and defense-related 

materials have become co-mingled. Consequently, a process was identified to facilitate the 

effective and efficient cleanup of the remainder of the site. This process, under the oversight of 

the NRC, will involve ABB, Inc., assuming responsibility for cleanup of all the radioactive 

contamination. At the meeting on Sept. 14, the NRC and ABB will discuss the company’s plans 

to supplement the decommissioning plan to complete those cleanup activities. 

Once all of the decommissioning work is completed, ABB, Inc., must demonstrate to the 

NRC that the entire property meets the criteria for “unrestricted release.” In order for a site to be 

deemed safe for unrestricted release, any residual radioactivity would have to be within 

allowable levels. 

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