Olean Times Herald (April 5, 2023) and Springville Journal (April 6, 2023):

WEST VALLEY — The Department of Energy and its prime contractor recently removed the concrete floor of a cell within the Main Plant Process Building as part of work to demolish the facility at the West Valley Demonstration Project.

Crews used heavy equipment to carefully lift and place each section of the Acid Recovery Cell floor into a container for offsite disposal.

Last summer, workers sawed the approximately 900-square-foot cell floor into more than 20 blocks for safe removal, further reducing the potential spread of contamination and providing an additional level of safety to the West Valley workforce.

“Our team continues to find ways to perform this challenging work in a manner that is protective of our employees, the public and the environment,” said Stephen Bousquet, Main Plant Project Director.

Located on the second floor of the Main Plant, the cell contained equipment that concentrated acids used in fuel reprocessing operations in the 1960s and ’70s. During those activities, acid leaks contaminated and damaged the cell’s floor.

As a result, grout was placed on the floor to provide shielding during reprocessing operations and then again during DOE’s deactivation of the Main Plant.

“Safety is paramount to our deconstruction activities,” Bousquet said. “We take great care to limit the separation of the floor from the grout to minimize the potential for the spread of contamination.”

Crews also will remove the cell’s pump room. During reprocessing operations, that room was used to recover most of the nitric acid used to dissolve the cut or chopped spent fuel transferred from the Main Plant’s Chemical Process Cell. It housed pumps, jets, a tank and associated piping and equipment.

In other recent work to prepare for the Main Plant teardown, workers pulled three shield windows from the Chemical Process Cell that together weigh more than 75,000 pounds.

A DOE 2023 priority is to dispose of 9,000 tons of Main Plant demolition waste. The Main Plant is one of the last remaining major facilities at West Valley. Its successful demolition will further reduce environmental risks and position the site for the next phase in cleanup. The demolition is expected to take approximately 30 months to complete.

EM Update, April 4, 2023 —

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Members of the West Valley Citizen Task Force met with EM representatives last week in Washington, D.C., to discuss the group’s priorities and challenges. The task force was assembled in 1997 to provide advice on the completion of the West Valley Demonstration Project and cleanup, closure and long‐term management of the facilities at the site. Pictured from left: Kevin Boyle, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) Local 2401; Kristen Ellis, EM director of regulatory, intergovernmental and stakeholder engagement; Ray Raffel, IAMAW Local 2401; John Pfeffer, Town of Ashford, New York supervisor; Anna Carr, Seneca Nation of Indians water program manager; and Joceline Nahigian, EM director of intergovernmental and stakeholder programs.

EM Update 2/28/23 —

While its mission is rooted in the environmental legacy of the past, EM is focused on possibilities for a future that holds great promise for its union workforce, industry leaders, tribal nations and communities surrounding cleanup sites, and partners around the globe, EM Senior Advisor William “Ike” White told an audience at the 2023 Waste Management Symposia on Monday.

Read the full coverage here.

Springville Journal 2/23/23 —

Acting as lead agency with no financial impact, the Town of Ashford was awarded $50,000 through the Energy Communities Alliance Local Government Education and Outreach Funding grant. This funding assistance will retain qualified experts who can analyze and explain the plans, proposals, models, assumptions, data and alternatives involved in the Probabilistic Performance Assessment that is being developed by the DOE as part of the Supplemental EIS for the West Valley Demonstration Project. This effort will be led by the West Valley Citizens Task Force with frequent reporting to the ECA and Town of Ashford. Additionally, this grant will assist the town with interpreting the results of the PPA model and will specifically support the town with the following grant required activities; increase education of local communities regarding site risk and reasonable maximum exposure scenarios, and provide the CTF and community with a better understanding of the application of federal and state cleanup laws, standards and goals for the WVDP site which includes expectations for eventual use of land and/or natural resources affected by DOE contaminant releases, the pending cleanup decisions which will likely include planned institutional controls or planned engineered controls for remediation or legacy management, processes and activities. 

Implementation of this project will begin immediately.

The Town of Ashford thanks those instrumental in supporting this effort. 

Olean Times Herald and Springville Journal 2/22/23 —

Officials at the West Valley Demonstration Project have announced the availability of a new video related to the commencement of the controlled deconstruction of the Main Plant Process Building.

This video features subject matter experts from the Department of Energy and CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley with more than 200 years of combined experience in nuclear decommissioning and environmental cleanup.

“The purpose of this video is to thank every employee here, as well as those who worked here in the past,” said Bryan Bower, WVDP director. “Individuals with diverse backgrounds and education used their collective experience, expertise and knowledge on how to safely deactivate and take down the Main Plant. That was all done here by an incredible workforce.”

The Main Plant Process Building is the last major facility to be removed from the site and represents more than two decades of deactivation and decommissioning work.

In some cases, West Valley employees have spent their entire careers working to witness this significant milestone that will change the landscape of the site forever.

“On Sept. 21, 2022, we began the controlled deconstruction of the Main Plant, and our workforce… our awesome workforce got us here,” said John Rendall, CHBWV President. “What’s been accomplished here, by this workforce, is to be commended. Everything that’s happened since the signing of the West Valley Demonstration Project Act has led to this day and our employees made it happen.”

The video includes subject matter experts directly involved in the project who provide technical support and oversight to ensure work is performed in a manner that is protective of human health and the surrounding environment.

DOE’s planned approach for deconstructing the MPPB incorporates best practices and lessons learned from the WVDP and across the DOE complex. This approach includes the use of deliberately planned and sequenced demolition, the implementation of robust work controls and the use of specialized tools and techniques to safely deconstruct the building.

Demolition of the Main Plant is expected to take approximately 30 months to complete. The video can be found on YouTube. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIr‐S4a2mEk]