The West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) is altering a former storage facility for use in processing waste during the demolition of the Main Plant Process Building.
Office of Environmental Management
September 21, 2021
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WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – The West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) is altering a former storage facility for use in processing waste during the demolition of the Main Plant Process Building.
“The modifications to this facility are a step towards the future demolition of the Main Plant Process Building,” EM WVDP Director Bryan Bower said. “This work also saves taxpayers money by using this former storage facility for a different purpose and operation. The WVDP team is doing an excellent job in planning and executing this work.”
Operating from 1966 to 1972, the five-story, 350,000-square-foot Main Plant is a former commercial reprocessing facility that had been used to recover plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear reactor fuel.
EM and its WVDP cleanup contractor, CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley, modified the former waste storage facility by constructing an opening to accommodate a large fork truck for transporting waste containers in and out of the building. The waste will be shipped by rail for off-site disposal.
Workers removed sheet metal that covered the storage facility to expose an interior concrete shield wall, which they safely cut into sections for removal. They reinstalled the metal covering around the new opening, and a rollup door will be installed. Crews also will build entrances and exits for workers.
The 17,250-square-foot storage facility was constructed in 1987 for remote loading, placement, and shielded storage for approximately 20,000, 71-gallon square drums of waste generated from previous operations. Workers shipped the drums for off-site disposal in 2006 and 2007.
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