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SCHENECTADY
Reactor an unwelcome tenant
RPI teaching unit on old Alco site nudged to leave
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

The former Alco site along Erie Boulevard and the Mohawk River is expected to feature several amenities once its redevelopment is completed. They include condominiums, riverfront access, a marina, retail outlets and a small nuclear reactor.
    Well, perhaps not that last item, according to acting Mayor Gary Mc-Carthy.
    McCarthy wants Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which owns the low-level reactor and the property on which it sits, to move the reactor out of the city. “I am not sure that is the best place for that facility,” he said Tuesday.
    McCarthy is seeking a meeting with RPI officials. “I want to have a constructive dialogue with them,” he said. One scheduled meeting with college representatives has already fallen through, McCarthy said.
    Claude Rounds, RPI vice president for administration, said in a prepared statement: “In the near future, we will be meeting with city of Schenectady officials as part of ongoing discussions about the future of the site.” The school had no further comment.
    RPI has pegged the cost to deactivate the reactor at $444,000. It uses the facility, called the L. David Walthousen Laboratory, to teach nuclear engineering students the basics of starting and shutting down a reactor. Approximately 50 students and researchers work at the lab, according to the school.
    The reactor generates 10 watts of electricity — less than that needed to power a light bulb, Rounds said. It has never had an accident, according to records maintained by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has oversight of the facility.
    The school uses four fuel rods, consisting of enriched uranium pellets clad in stainless steel, to run the reactor. The reactor is housed in a 40-by-30-foot room with 12-inch reinforced concrete walls. The roof is covered by 2 inches of lightweight concrete, fi ve plies of felt and asphalt and a gravel surface.
    Despite the reactor’s clean safety record, local offi cials remain concerned about the facility, especially about its proximity to the fl ood-prone Mohawk River and about the safety of nuclear material stored inside the building. The building’s existing security consists of two chain-link fences, one 30 feet high and one 50 feet high.
    When Tropical Storm Irene battered the area, flood waters virtually surrounded the building but did not breach it or reach the reactor, RPI said. The school shut down the reactor before the storm hit, placed nuclear materials in safe storage and secured the lab.
    David Buicko, chief operating officer of the Galesi Group, which owns the Alco site, said the company will work around t h e reactor as part of redevelopment plan. “It will not be a problem. It has been there forever and no one has had any issues with it.”
    Galesi is currently stockpiling dirt on the site, in preparation for later spreading it throughout the 66 acres. The remediation plan involves encapsulation of the site to the depth of 4 feet. Encapsulation will require 600,000 cubic yards of fill, weighing approximately 900,000 tons.
    Buicko said the facility “is a reactor in name, rather than a reactor in operation. It does have components to convert nuclear material into power, but when you look at and study the amount used, it is not harmful to ...................>>>>..................>>>>...................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00103&AppName=1

Holy crap, it almost sounds like he is channeling Bill Clinton is weaving that lie.

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"...is a reactor in name, rather than a reactor in operation..."

Doesn't every condo buyer want the amenity of a nuclear reactor? lol Working together works!

The city isn't going to remove all the contaminated soil but instead bury it under 4 feet of topsoil and hope none of the contamination reaches the surface.

I thought that Schenectady wanted to become a college town, but I guess these upscale college students who are learning much more than how to tie one on are not welcomed.  Hey, it's a school, they're most likely not paying any taxes, so they should be welcomed, just like all the other non-tax-paying businesses downtown.  

Quoted from Shadow

The city isn't going to remove all the contaminated soil but instead bury it under 4 feet of topsoil and hope none of the contamination reaches the surface.

Hide the problem. No one will say nuthin. When will Schenectady Steel be relocated for this park? We don't need no industrial jobs down at ALCO. We need more surplus housing no one wants.

Our great Mayor Gary McCarthy -- who is continuing the renaissance that his predecessor started -- is doing the right thing in moving this so called energy device that is --- more a device that has nuclear components to make energy but is not really a nuclear piece of equipment. I suspect he is working together with the County and the award winning developer who is handling this -- in an effort to work with RPI to relocate it and therefore alleviate the many fears of the residents who are misinformed by the Nattering Nayboobs like Hull and his foolish peanut-throwers......Hooray for the Mayor! Vive' La Renaissance!

Quoted from 1630

-- is doing the right thing in moving this so called energy device that is --- more a device that has nuclear components to make energy but is not really a nuclear piece of equipment.

You really don't have a clue, do you.

The folks in Nisky seem to do just fine with GER&D, huh?
And the folks in the jct do just fine with the huge chemical plant, SI Group, huh?
And the folks in rotterdam do just fine with Golub's ammonia cooled freezer, huh?
And the folks in Colonie do just fine with a major airport in the middle of the city, huh?
And how many gas/ethanol stations are there?
And how about the oil exposed oil tanks in Duanesburg?

DANGER DANGER EVERYWHERE!!

lookie here.. the folks on this here webbie site are now experts in environmental remediation...

guess we will no longer need to hire experts to tell us how to cleanup pollution, or follow accepted practices --

we will just ax them.. cause they is soooo smart and they knows all about everything.

Quoted from Smoking Bananas

lookie here.. the folks on this here webbie site are now experts in environmental remediation...

guess we will no longer need to hire experts to tell us how to cleanup pollution, or follow accepted practices --

Are the experts that clean up the pollution the same experts that CREATED the pollution?  

A company I worked for had a leaking gas tank that was leaking for years. It took 300 tractor trailer dump truck loads of contaminated soil to be removed and then replaced with clean soil to satisfy the DEC in order to sell the building. Since when is burying the contaminated soil a good idea, remember Love Canal, they buried the contamination too and it came back to bite them in the butt.

Sounds like Floyd Ladd's station

if u would bother to look.. the DEC signed off on the Alco cleanup plan by Galesi..

that is the truth -- but I  am sure u will figure out a way to twist it.

They probably signed off on Love Canal too.