WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – EM Assistant Secretary Monica Regalbuto congratulated the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) workforce for an extraordinarily successful 2016 at an employee celebration Dec. 12.
December 15, 2016
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WVDP received DOE’s Volunteer Protection Program Star Award for the second consecutive year. Left to right, Bryan Bower, WVDP Director; Stacy Charboneau, EM Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Field Operations; Andy Rupp, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Lodge 2401; Jeff Bradford, CH2M Hill BWXT West Valley, LLC President; Monica Regalbuto, EM Assistant Secretary; and Kash Grimes, EM Consolidated Business Center Deputy Director.
EM Assistant Secretary Monica Regalbuto congratulates WVDP Federal Project Director Dan Sullivan for the successful completion of the site’s high-level waste relocation project, and the waste shipment project that transported three oversized vitrification components to a disposal facility in Andrews, Texas.
WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – EM Assistant Secretary Monica Regalbuto congratulated the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) workforce for an extraordinarily successful 2016 at an employee celebration Dec. 12.
Regalbuto commended the employees for completing the site’s high-level waste (HLW) relocation project, for successfully managing the transport offsite of oversized containers that once held equipment used to solidify radioactive waste, and for continued deactivation and decommissioning and waste management progress. Watch a video about WVDP’s 2016 accomplishments here.
“Your ability to achieve real results demonstrates that the federal investment in cleanup is money well-spent,” Regalbuto told the workers at the site celebration, adding “It’s an honor to join you in marking these major cleanup achievements.”
Regalbuto further emphasized the work was performed safely. For the second consecutive year, West Valley received the DOE Voluntary Protection Program Star of Excellence Award in recognition of more than 2.3 million safe work hours.
WVDP Director Bryan Bower, New York State Energy and Research Development Authority West Valley Program Director Paul Bembia and CH2M Hill West Valley, LLC President and General Manager Jeff Bradford recognized the workforce on its accomplishments and encouraged all employees to remain focused on other cleanup milestones: legacy waste disposition, and the demolition of the Vitrification Facility, Main Process Plant Building and other ancillary facilities.
WVDP is the nation’s first and only commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant to successfully vitrify HLW — convert liquid waste into a glass substance. The site added to its history of firsts in November when employees safely completed the task of transferring vitrified HLW canisters into storage casks and relocating them from the Main Plant Process Building to an interim storage pad. What’s more, the job was completed a year ahead of schedule.
Just weeks later, workers transported a melter used in the vitrification process and two tank components — oversized packages weighing more than 500 tons combined — to Waste Control Specialists in Andrews, Texas for permanent disposal. Watch a video about the melter shipment here.