EM Update, February 27, 2024 — An EM team safely demolished a structure at West Valley Demonstration Project used during former spent nuclear fuel reprocessing operations as well as cleanup, including solidification of liquid high‐level waste and deactivation of one of the last major facilities remaining at the site.
“The West Valley Demonstration Project team strives to find solutions to conduct demolition activities in a safe, efficient and deliberate manner,” said Stephen Bousquet, assistant director of West Valley’s Office of Project Management. “They continue to leverage their combined knowledge and expertise to complete the demolition of this major milestone safely and compliantly.”
The crews demolished the 1,000‐square‐foot Waste Reduction and Packaging Area along with an associated dock about 600 square feet in area. Both structures were used to package waste and ship it offsite for disposal.
At one time, a box compactor was used to compact waste inside metal waste boxes to maximize the waste content of the boxes.

Read the full article here.

Springville Journal, February 22, 2024 —

The Ashford Town Board, at its Feb. 14 meeting, held a discussion on the board possibly writing home rule resolutions for the town of Ashford.

“The state seems to continue to want to chip away at home rule,” Supervisor John Pfeffer said. “Part of me feels like we need to stand up at least at the town level and exercise our home rule ability and maybe come up with some resolutions that we send to the state.”

Councilman Bill Heim agreed with Pfeffer on the stance with home rule resolutions. “You are spot on as far as the home rule law. We absolutely let the state shove this stuff down our throat and it’s just not right.”

Pfeffer said he was working on a home rule resolution and encouraged the other board members to propose resolutions as well.

Jason Casper, the new president and general manager at CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley, LLC, gave an update to the board on progress at the West Valley Demonstration Project. With the demolition at the Main Plant Process Building, crews continue to work on demolition on the hot cell, chemical process cell, liquid waste cell tanks and extraction cell #1. Along with the Main Plant, crews also finished demolition of the old guard house and the construction of a new guard house.

Casper also reported on the waste management shipments from the site. 631 intermodals have been generated and 616 have been shipped, with a net weight of 12,203 tons. 39 specialty containers have also been generated and 29 have been shipped to date, with a net weight of 247 tons.

Casper also updated the board on community donations from the past year. Community service donations were given to West Valley Fire District #1 in the amount of $80,000, Bertrand Chaffee Hospital in the amount of $5,000 and Mercy Flight in the amount of $5,000. Last year’s food drive also collected enough food for 10,800 meals, which was delivered by volunteers to nine local food pantries. Other donations included $12,000 in annual community donations, $13,032 to the United Way and over 350 toys collected for Toys for Tots.

In other board news:

– The board approved changing the dates for two upcoming board meetings. The April meeting will be changed to April 9 and the July meeting will be changed to July 17.

The next Ashford Town Board meeting will be Wednesday, March 13 at p.m.

Energy.gov, February 22, 2024 —

The electrical grid stands as a marvel of modern engineering, intricately designed to transmit power from various sources to end users across vast distances. It tirelessly supplies electricity to buildings, industries, schools, and households, ensuring uninterrupted service around the clock, every day of the year. One of the challenges is the aging grid infrastructure such as transformers—critical components of the power grid. That’s why DOE is partnering with industry and other stakeholders to ensure that our nation’s grid is reliable, resilient, secure, and affordable while meeting all the demands of the 21st century.

Read the full article here.

Olean Times Herald, February 21, 2024 —

WEST VALLEY — The Department of Energy and its cleanup contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) used innovative thinking to improve safety and efficiency and save taxpayer money by acquiring new automated tools for demolition equipment.

“The WVDP team uses diversity, collaboration and inclusion to its advantage when developing innovation solutions during cleanup activities,” said Stephen Bousquet, EM West Valley Project Management Assistant Director. “Combining their differences and strengths helps the team improve safety, increase efficiency and reduce costs.”

The new tools, known as quick couplers, feature an advanced automatic coupling system that enables an operator to change quickly between various attachments used in cleanup from inside the cab of an excavator while conducting demolition work on the Main Plant Process Building at West Valley.

Read the full article here.

Olean Times Herald, February 21, 2024 —

 OLEAN — Cattaraugus County Concerned Citizens, an environmental and health watchdog over the past four decades, is seeking new members in order to carry on its mission. 

Concerned Citizens formed in the early 1990s in response to a proposed landfill in Farmersville and reorganized in 2010 to fight a proposed 29-turbine wind farm in the Chipmunk area in the town of Allegany. 

Cattaraugus County and Concerned Citizens fought against the proposed landfill and it was effectively stopped in 2004. Five years later, the county auctioned off parcels there with the understanding the land could never be used for a landfill. 

Ironically, another Farmersville project, the proposed Alle-Catt Wind Farm, split the remaining members of Concerned Citizens and it dropped out of the coalition of groups and individuals opposed to the wind farm. 

Read the full article here.