September 6, 2022 – Ray Vaughan is a charter member of the West Valley Citizens Task Force, which was formed in 1978 — prior to passage of the West Valley Demonstration Project Act of 1980.

Task force members monitor efforts of the U.S. Department of Energy, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and site contractors to clean up the site of the country’s first commercial spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant.

Late last month the task force heard a presentation on erosion modeling, which may not sound exciting, but it is at the root of the question about what to do with radioactive waste beneath the surface of the nuclear cleanup site on a plateau overlooking creeks that empty into Lake Erie. Link to article

September 5, 2022 – Demolition is to start this month on the Main Plant Process Building at the West Valley Demonstration Project.

More than two dozen local and national organizations are urging the governor and state leaders to call for more safety measures during the demolition of the largest radioactive building at the West Valley Demonstration Project. Deconstruction of the Main Plant Process Building (MPPB) is to start this month and will take nearly three years. The groups want the building enclosed during demolition and real-time, publicly reported off-site monitoring before, during and after demolition. They also want a permanent, publicly accessible, online library with all West Valley documents, including assumptions used for cleanup decisions and estimated releases. … Link to article

September 4, 2022 – More than two dozen local and national organizations are urging the governor and state leaders to call for more safety measures during the demolition of the West Valley Demonstration Project’s largest radioactive building.

The decommissioning of the Main Plant Process Building (MPPB) is scheduled to begin this month and take nearly three years.

With concrete walls one to five feet thick, safely dismantling the building to contain the remaining radiation is an arduous process. Link to article

September 1, 2022 – Eight high‐integrity containers containing radioactive water filtering materials were removed last week from near the Main Plant Process Building at the West Valley Demonstration Project.

The Department of Energy and contractor CH2M Hill BWXT West Valley LLC announced the relocation of the shielded containers weighing between 68,000 and 80,000 pounds on Tuesday.

The water‐filtering materials were from the former Fuel Receiving and Storage facility water treatment system which was used to receive and store spent nuclear fuel during fuel reprocessing operations from 1966 to 1972. Link to article

September 1, 2022 – The Department of Energy and its prime contractor CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley at the West Valley Demonstration Project completed the deactivation of the Ventilation Wash Room, which housed a ventilation “scrubber” that removed airborne particulates resulting from fuel reprocessing operations that ceased in 1972. During deactivation, the scrubber was prepared for removal and will be removed during the future demolition of the Main Plant Process Building, an EM 2022 Priority.

“The safe execution of this work is due to the combination of extensive planning, deliberate speed and using worker feedback throughout the deactivation,” Department of Energy WVDP DOE Federal Project Director for the MPPB Demolition Steve Bousquet said. “The WVDP team continues its strong commitment to safely protecting its workers, the public and the environment while reducing legacy risks at the site.” Link to article