February 19, 2020 – “West Valley” consists of two sites: The Western New York Nuclear Service Center (WNYNSC) and the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP). The WNYNSC is a 3,338-acre site located 30 miles south of Buffalo, NY owned by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

Established in 1961 as the site of a nuclear center, WNYNSC was comprised of a commercial spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facility and two waste disposal facilities Nuclear Fuel Services, a private company, built and operated the fuel reprocessing plant and the burial grounds under contract with the State of New York, processing 705 tons of spent nuclear fuel at WNYNSC from 1966 to 1972 under an Atomic Energy Commission (later Nuclear Regulatory Commission or NRC) license. These spent nuclear fuel reprocessing operations resulted in the generation of 660,000 gallons of high-level radioactive waste, which were stored in two underground storage tanks. Link to article

February 18, 2020 – The EM West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) commended the captain of the site’s security force in a ceremony last week for his lifesaving response to a member of the local sheriff’s office.

WVDP security officers and Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office representatives were having lunch at WVDP in January when Capt. James Madden observed Sgt. Jason Dry choking. Madden rushed to Dry and applied the Heimlich maneuver. After three attempts, a blockage was removed, allowing Dry to breathe freely. Link to update

February 15, 2020 – The Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management’s prime contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project, CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley (CHBWV), recently received silver level recognition from the American Heart Association for taking significant steps to build a culture of health in the workplace.

The American Heart Association’s Workplace Health Achievement Index (Index) is a self-assessment scorecard that measures the comprehensiveness and quality of a company’s workplace health program, and the overall heart health of its employees. Link to article

February 13, 2020 – The Department of Energy and CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley, its cleanup contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project, created a new way to increase safety awareness for workers and their families. It’s called the Family Fun Safety Calendar and features drawings created by WVDP employees’ children, ages 12 and under, that depict general safety practices. Link to article

February 13, 2020 – (Relevant Portion) Environmental programs

For the first time in the Trump era, his annual budget proposes no cut in funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the program responsible for the cleanup of the Buffalo River and other onetime environmental wastelands. What’s more, the budget increases funding for the West Valley Demonstration Project, the Cattaraugus County nuclear waste site, to $88 million – a 17% increase. Link to article