Decommissioning the Flannery Building
for Unrestricted Use

The Flannery (Vanadium) Building, located in Pittsburgh, PA, has a long history with radium production and use. Built circa 1911 by Mr. Joseph Flannery, President of the Vanadium Corp. of America and the Standard Chemical Company (SCC), the building Flannery Building, circa 1913 was a major processing and refining facility for radium from the SCC-Canonsburg, PA, facility through the 1920s and '30s. Flannery pioneered the first major commercial production of radium from U.S. ores. Refinement into self-luminous paint and concentrated radium compounds for medical, industrial and commercial uses were carried out in the fifth floor facilities of the building. At one time the Flannery Building was said to contain the major portion of the world’s inventory of processed radium. News articles from 1921 showed photographs of a visit by Mme. Marie Curie. An estimated 180 grams (or curies) of radium-226 was refined in this facility.

As a result of radium production, residual radium contamination existed on all levels, including the roof. After use as a radium production facility, the building passed through numerous owners and most recently was utilized primarily as office space. Interaction through the 1960s and '70s between the state regulatory agency and property owners let led to limited decontamination efforts in selected areas of the building. However, due to the lack of a formal radioactive materials license being in place and no approved decommissioning plan, a comprehensive characterization or decontamination was not carried out during that time.

A local banking institution purchased the building in the 1980s and operated a branch of their bank on the ground floor for many years. Following a failed sale of the building by the bank to another business, involving litigation over the presence of residual radium contamination, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) Bureau of Radiation Protection (BRP) was asked to provide guidance that would lead to an unqualified unrestricted release for the building. The owner agreed to accept the issuance of a decommissioning license by PADEP/BRP that stipulated the restrictive cleanup criteria prescribed in Regulatory Guide 1.86 and NUREG/CR-5849.

PADEP/BRP gave this remediation project priority attention in early 2003, providing guidance to the licensee to ensure this building would finally be cleaned up, after more than 80 years of being contaminated. The licensee worked closely with PADEP/BRP staff to reach the agreed-upon clean-up criteria. It was necessary to use a special approach in certain areas of the building in order to obtain an unrestricted release. Portions of the building could not be remediated to the original release criteria due to issues with structural integrity, inaccessibility, and/or safety concerns. These areas required a special set of dose assessments to evaluate each area of concern. The license was terminated in September 2003 after meeting the criteria. In 2004, the bank has sold this building to a local developer for use as a commercial property. This successful remediation project will ensures this historic building will remain in productive use for future generations.

Flannery Building Safety Evaluation Reports
  • Interim Safety Evaluation Report: Flannery Building Decontamination and Final Status Survey Plans
    • Dated January 2003
    • The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Radiation Protection (DEP/BRP) has prepared this Interim Safety Evaluation Report (ISER) to provide the background and rationale for the Department's approval of the Decontamination and Final Status Survey Plans prepared for the Flannery Building.
    • The Licensee and its contractors for the Flannery Building, in accordance with guidance provided by DEP/BRP, have prepared these Plans. At the option of the DEP/BRP, this ISER is being prepared following applicable practices of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), as detailed in References 1 and 2.

  • Final Safety Evaluation Report for Flannery Building: Final Status Survey Report and License Termination
    • Dated June 2003
    • The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Radiation Protection (DEP/BRP) has prepared this Final Safety Evaluation Report (FSER) to provide the background and rationale for the Department's approval of the Final Status Survey Report (FSSR) prepared for the Flannery Building, and termination of Radioactive Materials License No. PA-0821. This FSER also provides the basis for approval of areas proposed by the Licensee for release using hazard assessments, in accordance with License Conditions 14C, and 15B.
    • After completing decontamination of the Flannery Building the Licensee and its contractors have conducted final radiological surveys and prepared the FSSR, in accordance with guidance provided by DEP/BRP. At the option of the DEP/BRP, this FSER is being prepared following applicable practices of the U.S. Nuclear Regulartory Commission (NRC).
Flannery Building Websites