In the News

Below are articles and other news published since the last West Valley Citizen Task Force Meeting. They relate to the West Valley Demonstration Project, nuclear waste cleanup or are otherwise relevant or of potential interest to stakeholders interested in the Project. After each Citizen Task Force Meeting, these articles are compiled into a single document and may be found with the meeting materials for that month.

EM Update – Ike White Outlines EM Vision for 2020

February 4, 2020 – EM plans a wide range of accomplishments in 2020, including some that have been years in the making and that promise to significantly advance the cleanup mission, EM Senior Advisor Ike White told a key stakeholder audience on Jan. 31.

In remarks to the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA), White said major liquid waste treatment facilities at the Savannah River and Idaho sites are expected to start operations, and the completion of construction supporting Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) treatment at Hanford puts that project only a short distance away from startup. Link to Update

Peterborough Examiner – Peterborough letter: Take a look at what happened in West Valley, N.Y.

February 3, 2020 – It is disturbing that only Coun. Dean Pappas seems to be concerned about the nuclear license being sought by the fox overlooking the General Electric henhouse. Clearly no one in this area is familiar with the horror stories that abound both in the U.S. and elsewhere in relation to nuclear use. One that occupied many years of my life was the saga of West Valley, N.Y. Link to article

Greenfield Recorder – Nuclear power: Recycling a bad idea

January 26, 2020 – Nuclear industry advocates always seem to come up with grand ideas that nuclear power will “solve” our energy problems. Now it’s a solution to climate change. Their solutions always downplay any problems with high-level nuclear waste claiming that nuclear power is safe and finding a solution for its toxic waste is easy. If it’s so easy, why don’t they have a workable solution? Is it really just peoples’ unreasonable fears that obstruct the industry and the federal government from creating a final solution? Link to article

DOE EM Update – West Valley Calendar Promotes Safety From Perspectives of Children

January 21, 2020 – EM and its cleanup contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) have come up with a new way to raise safety awareness, just in time for 2020: a calendar featuring drawings depicting general safety practices created by the children of employees. Link to Update

Salamanca Press – WVDP receives recognition from American Heart Assoc.

January 30, 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