EM Disposes of 1.9 Million Pounds of Legacy Waste From West Valley Site

Cleanup milestone: Crews at the West Valley Demonstration Project recently finished the safe, compliant disposition of legacy waste produced during past operations. In total, they completed 32 shipments of 28 large containers weighing almost 1.9 million pounds to an offsite disposal location.

WEST VALLEY, N.Y. — U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) crews have met a notable milestone in the cleanup of the West Valley Demonstration Project by safely completing 32 shipments containing nearly 1.9 million pounds of legacy waste to an offsite disposal location.

“The completion of this major milestone is an important accomplishment in the progress to decommission the West Valley Demonstration Project,” EM West Valley Director Bryan Bower said. “This accomplishment speaks volumes on the importance of solid communication, teamwork and best practices. The team did an excellent job in completing this major milestone.”

Cleanup crews processed, packaged and shipped equipment and containers from past nuclear fuel reprocessing operations at the site about 35 miles south of Buffalo, New York. Among the contents of the 28 large, heavy containers were pumps and degraded waste containers.

“The West Valley Demonstration Project team was deliberate in the planning and execution of this work, resulting in the safe and compliant disposition of all legacy waste,” said Jason Casper, president of CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley, the prime contractor at West Valley. “We met our objective through extensive planning, engineering controls and lessons learned. This is a proud moment for our team and the work they continue to do at the West Valley Demonstration Project.”

Workers followed procedures and the Integrated Safety Management System at West Valley to control and prevent the spread of radioactive contamination while protecting workers and the environment as they completed the work for this milestone.