Below are articles and other news published since the last West Valley Citizen Task Force Meeting. They relate to the West Valley Demonstration Project, nuclear waste cleanup or are otherwise relevant or of potential interest to stakeholders interested in the Project. After each Citizen Task Force Meeting, these articles are compiled into a single document and may be found with the meeting materials for that month.
November 13, 2018 – The ventilation stack, weighing more than 20,000 pounds, was successfully removed from the Main Plant Process Building at the West Valley Demonstration Project, utilizing extensive planning, engineering controls and historical best practices. Link to article
October/November – “As the hosts, sender and receiver sites for the federal government’s HLW, we support DOE’s efforts to examine alternative disposal pathways for waste in our communities that, under the current interpretation based on artificial standards, can only go to a HLW repository. If DOE moves to more appropriately align disposal decisions based on actual risk, some of this waste may be safely managed as transuranic or low-level waste and can be moved out of our communities sooner while saving significant taxpayer dollars,” according to Rick McLeod, CEO of the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization. Link to Bulletin
November 6, 2018 – U.S. Rep. Tom Reed won re-election to a fifth term in his Southern Tier district, defeating well-funded Democratic challenger Tracy Mitrano.
Reed, a Republican, held onto the 23rd District seat despite late indications the race was tightening, with some giving Mitrano, a cybersecurity expert from Yates County, a fighting chance to pull off an upset in the Republican-leaning district. Link to article
November 6, 2018 – Workers recently removed a former pump-and-treat system at EM’s West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) site, allowing for continued cleanup progress.
“The WVDP team continues to make steady and meaningful progress on reducing the environmental legacy risks and footprint of the site in a safe and compliant manner,” EM WVDP Director Bryan Bower said. “Our crews did an excellent job in their planning and safe execution of this demolition work.” Link to update
October 30, 2018 – Rep. Tom Reed may support President Trump’s policies and enjoy his endorsements, but for much of his time in the House of Representatives, he’s worked hard to brand himself as a down-to-earth moderate working to break partisan gridlock. Link to article
