STRICKLER, Ark. (AP) – Crews have completed the cleanup at a former nuclear
reactor test site in northwest Arkansas owned by the University of Arkansas.
Officials announced the end of the 15-year, $25.8 million cleanup project at a public meeting on Thursday. According to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette , the project’s completion still needs approval from state and federal
officials.
The site is 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Fayetteville and was built in
the 1960s as nuclear reactor test site. The university took ownership of it in
1975 for research purposes, but stopped using it in 1986.
The site was deemed contaminated in the early 2000s.
Officials say the cleanup involved demolishing the site’s control room and
sending thousands of pounds of low-level radioactive wastes to specialized waste
facilities out of state.
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