Kesselring Site: Hortonsphere HABS/HAER photography and research

The Kesselring Site in eastern NY was developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s by General Electric Corporation working in conjunction with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and the U.S. Navy. Its purpose was serve as a prototype testing and training facility associated with the nearby Knolls Atomic Laboratory, for the Navy's new nuclear submarine program. In particular, the Kesselring Site housed a prototype of a first-generation nuclear reactor for submarines, using liquid sodium as the heat transfer medium. In order to contain the gasses that would be created if the sodium came into contact with water, GE contracted with the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company to design and build a Hortonsphere, a spherical steel containment device. When completed in 1953, it was the largest Hortonshphere ever built at 225 feet in diameter. The last nuclear reactor to be housed in the Hortonsphere was decommissioned in 1996, and the structure was proposed for demolition. The site is managed by Naval Nuclear Laboratory that is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Fluor Marine Propulsion LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fluor Corporation. Following consultation with the New York State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service, Fluor Marine Propulsion LLC contracted with The Public Archaeology Facility at SUNY Binghamton to conduct the cultural resources mitigation, which then subcontracted to me to conduct the HABS/HAER photography and research. I conducted the photography in 2020, and the project was completed in 2022.

Official disclaimer:
This material has been authored by Bruce Harvey, under Contract No. 89233018CNR000004 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish, distribute, translate, duplicate, exhibit, and perform the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government Purposes.