FIELD LAB CLEAN-UP CONTINUES FEDS SAY 'HOT' REMNANTS OF ONE NUCLEAR REACTOR REMOVED.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

Facing increasing scrutiny over the clean-up of radioactive contamination, Department of Energy and the Boeing Corp. officials told neighbors of the Santa Susana Field Lab on Thursday night that all ``hot'' remnants of one former nuclear reactor have been removed.

The DOE presented the results of the Building 59 demolition and clean-up during a public meeting held at the Grand Vista Hotel in Simi Valley. The demolition was closely watched because Building 59 was one of three remaining facilities at the Simi Hills lab with radioactive contamination.

``I think this is a major achievement on the site,'' said Mike Lopez, DOE project manager.

Building 59 housed one of seven reactors used in nuclear research from 1959 through 1969 to develop reliable power for space exploration and satellites. The building may have been a source of the recent radioactive tritium contamination found in groundwater.

Building 59 and its 55-foot-deep concrete basement became contaminated during reactor tests.

To remove the basement without releasing radioactive dust or particles, workers sliced the concrete into blocks and dismantled it piece by piece.

The blocks were shipped to a low-level radioactive waste disposal site in Nevada.

Lopez said Department of Energy scientists took samples and tested for some ``hot'' contaminants, but did not find them. More tests are coming, he said.

The California Department of Health Services test results are due later this month.

``I don't think there's anything being left there,'' Lopez said.

Neighbors and other lab watchdogs have asked for independent testing of the site.

``I don't have much faith in their testing,'' said Dan Hirsch, with the Committee to Bridge the Gap, a community watchdog group.

His group said the DOE plans would leave dangerous levels of radioactive contamination at the site, which will one day be released for an unrestricted use, such as housing.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, Los Angeles city government and the Committee to Bridge the Gap sued the DOE this year over the agency's clean-up standards, which they said would leave 99 percent of the tainted soil in place.

DOE officials have said the clean-up will leave the property safe.

With building 59 demolished, the Department of Energy will begin in 2005 to take down Building 24, which held two underground vaults with test reactors.

Lastly, by 2007, the department will remove the radioactive materials handling facility where any ``hot'' material found is stored and packaged for disposal.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com