Low‑Level Radioactive Materials Processing

For more than 30 years, the Alaron site in Wampum, Pennsylvania, has been providing a range of specialty services to the nuclear industry.  Strategically located near multiple utilities and other facilities in the nuclear industry, Alaron Nuclear Services is an ideal transfer site for soils and debris generated through decommissioning that are ultimately disposed of at low‑level disposal sites.  The facility is an ISO 45001 certified facility – an internationally recognized occupational, health and safety management system series standard.

Annually, Alaron processes over a million tons of radioactive material at this facility, including dry active waste, metals, soil, rubble, and large components such as turbine rotors and large heat exchangers.

In addition to processing materials for disposal or recovery, the facility extends its Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licenses as a service to several different companies in the nuclear space.  These companies have valued partnerships with Alaron and bring their technical experts to Alaron’s facility to work under its license. Alaron can also extend its license to client‑owned locations and send Alaron’s experts there.

Focus on Radioactive Waste Decontamination

Alaron reviews and evaluates contaminated and/or potentially contaminated equipment and components.  If the radioactive constituents can be removed by decontamination and released for unrestricted use, these items may be recoverable assets for your company.

Using our Asset Recovery Program, our clients realize measurable savings through reuse of their recovered equipment; the equipment can be reused for its original intended purpose as non‑radioactive items, eliminating disposal and replacement costs.

Items that we regularly decontaminate include:

  • Lead blankets and other lead components
  • Electrical equipment, such as controllers, relays, printed circuit boards, displays, printers, computers
  • Scaffold and heavy construction equipment (backhoes, tractors, etc.)
  • We release equipment for unrestricted use based upon the limits set forth in Reg. Guide 1.86.  If requested, we can release equipment to lower levels or no detectable activity.

Main services to our clients

Our main services include:

  • Licensed facility access – we own and maintain a Radioactive Materials License issued by the State of Pennsylvania, which is an NRC Agreement State.  Clients who do not have such a license can come to our site to perform work under our license.

  • License reciprocity – clients who would like to take advantage of our licensed facility access, but for which the logistics are too cumbersome, may take advantage of our ability to gain license reciprocity throughout the United States and its territories.  This allows us to extend our license to a client facility or project location for up to 180 days per year.

  • Survey/decontamination – provide radioactive surveys and decontamination of various equipment and components.

  • Low‑level radioactive waste – includes processing and consolidation, volume reduction and sizing, and decontamination.

  • Motor shop – electric motor and pump decontamination, repair, and refurbishment.

  • Specialty coatings – NQA‑1 and 10 CFR 50 Appendix B qualified coating systems.

Facility

Alaron’s facility offers more than 150,000 square feet of indoor space and 15 acres of outdoor storage space and is fully equipped to handle jobs of all complexity and size.  The facility has 60‑ton and 125‑ton overhead cranes, high bay areas and containment buildings.  We also maintain an integrated rail spur with a run‑around and a private switch engine that runs directly into a 9,600‑square‑foot operations building.

Innovative Solutions

Alaron is a proven partner to the nuclear industry, thanks to its long history of service, compliance and innovative solutions.  Alaron is proud to be a key business partner with NAC International.  These kinds of organizations have permanent, full‑time operations at our facility, and Alaron also provides these same services on an intermittent basis to many other nuclear services providers.

Alaron provides these important nuclear services companies with various services, to include:

  • Operational, technical and radiation safety support services

  • Administrative and office‑related support services

  • Use of Alaron’s Radioactive Materials License