Salamanca Press, May 17, 2024 —

 Mercy Flight, West Valley Fire District #1 and Bertrand Chaffee Hospital recently received checks on behalf of the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP). 

Presenting checks were representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley, LLC (CHBWV). 

These three local organizations serve as valuable resources for WVDP employees and the surrounding community. Bertrand Chaffee Hospital ($5,000) and its staff provide medical support, Mercy Flight ($5,000) provides air ambulance service and the West Valley Fire District ($80,000) volunteers provide fire and emergency services. 

“Showing our appreciation for the commitment and dedication of these organizations is a highlight of the year,” said Jennifer Dundas, DOE Assistant Director Office of Technical Services. “Together, they help us keep our employees, the public, and the environment safe when performing our cleanup mission. It is truly an asset to have trained and qualified emergency responders available to support the project.” 

Read the full article here.

Olean Times Herald, May 16, 2024 —

Crews with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) recently met a fiscal year goal at the West Valley Demonstration Project by shipping eight containers of legacy waste each weighing up to 94,000 pounds for offsite disposal. 

The effort by EM and cleanup contractor CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley (CHBWV) involved comprehensive planning, engineered safeguards, continuous communication and teamwork. 

“The West Valley Demonstration Project team continues to use planning, teamwork and deliberate execution to complete challenging work safely,” said Stephen Bousquet, EM West Valley assistant director of Project Management. “By removing legacy wastes, we continue to position the site for future cleanup activities.” 

Read the full article here.

EM Update, May 14, 2024 —

 Crews with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) (htps://www.energy.gov/em/office-environmental-management) recently met a fiscal year goal at the West Valley Demonstration Project (htps://www.energy.gov/em/west-valley-demonstration-project-wvdp) by shipping eight containers of legacy waste each weighing up to 94,000 pounds for offsite disposal. 

The effort by EM and cleanup contractor CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley (CHBWV) involved comprehensive planning, engineered safeguards, continuous communication and teamwork. 

“The West Valley Demonstration Project team continues to use planning, teamwork and deliberate execution to complete challenging work safely,” said Stephen Bousquet, EM West Valley assistant director of Project Management. “By removing legacy wastes, we continue to position the site for future cleanup activities.” 

Workers used a large crane to pick up and lower each container into an engineered overpack, which serves as a secondary layer of protection. They loaded the overpack containers onto trailers and transported them by truck to a local rail transload facility. There, the shipment was securely loaded onto rail cars for transportation to an approved disposal facility in Texas. 

The legacy waste was removed from the former Fuel Receiving and Storage Facility (htps://www.energy.gov/em/articles/west-valley-safely-prepares-spent-fuel-facility-eventual-demolition). The building was used from 1965 to 1972 to receive and store spent nuclear fuel before it was reprocessed to recover reusable plutonium and uranium. 

“Our team members continue to use their combined knowledge to safely and deliberately complete high risk work activities,” CHBWV Waste and Site Operations Manager Peggy Loop said. “I’m proud of their efforts, accomplishments and work they continue to do on this project.” 

This latest achievement joins a list of fiscal year goals EM crews have completed at West Valley, including the removal of old locker rooms and the original guardhouse, installation of new walkways, construction of a new access roadway between the north and south parking lots, and collection of a sample in an underground tank that stored high-level liquid waste from spent fuel reprocessing operations. 

Olean Times Herald, May 13, 2024 —

 RICHMOND, Ky. — Joe Curcio, a native of Belfast, N.Y., is the new project manager for the Bechtel Parsons team at the Blue Grass Army Depot, where the U.S. military stores conventional and chemical munitions. 

Curcio’s duties include leading the joint venture systems contractor team responsible for the design, construction, testing, operations and closure of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, or BGAPP. He previously served as deputy project manager at BGCAPP from 2019 until being selected as project manager in March. 

Prior to working at BGCAPP, Curcio has worked at high-hazard nuclear facilities. His nuclear experience includes project management responsibilities at Savannah River, South Carolina; Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant and Washington Closure Hanford in Washington state; the Separations Process Recovery Unit in New York; and the West Valley Demonstration Project in Cattaraugus County, N.Y. 

Read the full article here.

Olean Times Herald, May 9, 2024 —

 With about $160 million spent so far in building demolition, the West Valley Demonstration Project has come a long way in cleaning up the former nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in northern Cattaraugus County — and that progress continues this summer. 

That’s the message shared with county legislators Wednesday by Jason Casper, the new president and general manager of CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley, the Department of Energy’s clean-up contractor for the site. 

Casper showed county officials photos of the site’s progress on the Main Plant deconstruction, which began in September 2022. He said one of the more complicated aspects of the demolition was the removal of nine liquid waste cell tanks that held contaminated materials — the biggest portion of contamination content still left in the facility. 

“All of those tanks have been removed, the biggest one being the 7D-2,” he said. Removing the 20-ton tank was “a significant lift. A big evolution for our workforce to be able to pick it as well as protection from a radiological standpoint.” 

Read the full article here.