EM Leaders Survey Legacy Cleanup Progress at Three Sites in Empire State

West Valley Demonstration Project tour participants pose in front of 56 high-level waste casks on the site’s temporary storage pad. From left: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) Deputy Chief of Staff John Howard; West Valley Facility Representative Cory Lauber; West Valley Director Bryan Bower; West Valley Office of Project Management Assistant Director Stephen Bousquet; EM Assistant Secretary Tim Walsh; EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne; EM Director of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Justin Doil; EM Chief Operating Officer David Brunnert; EM Chief of Staff Alicia Stetin; EM Consolidated Business Center Acting Director Melody Bell; Washington, D.C., Chief of Staff William Smith, U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy's office; West Valley Cleanup Alliance President and Program Manager Jason Casper; and West Valley Office of Technical Services Assistant Director Jennifer Dundas.

Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) Tim Walsh toured three sites in New York recently where the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) conducts legacy cleanup to review progress and meet with team members and community stakeholders.

“Our cleanup work in New York is focused on responsibly addressing legacy conditions and steadily reducing long-term risk for the community and future generations,” Walsh said of the West Valley Demonstration Project and the EM Consolidated Business Center New York's (EMCBC-NY) Office of Naval Reactors (NR) cleanup sites at Kesselring and Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL). “Here at West Valley, my team is delivering results by improving efficiency through innovation, prioritization and disciplined cost and schedule management — without compromising safety or effectiveness.”

EM West Valley Director Bryan Bower welcomed Walsh.

“As the only commercial used nuclear fuel reprocessing plant to have operated in the United States, seeing the work firsthand is important to understanding the progress being made at the site and how it supports EM’s mission and overall cleanup strategy,” Bower said.

Walsh’s visit comes on the heels of the 2025 demolition of the Main Plant Process Building — the largest, most complex teardown of a radioactively contaminated facility in West Valley’s history — and ongoing demolition of the Fuel Receiving and Storage Facility.

Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) Tim Walsh, second from right, and other EM leaders take part in a listening session with members of the West Valley Citizen Task Force.

Walsh toured West Valley with subject matter experts to discuss recent accomplishments and planned work. He also met with representatives from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). EM and contractor West Valley Cleanup Alliance conduct cleanup in cooperation with NYSERDA.

EM is committed to the federal-state partnership with the state of New York. NYSERDA owns the West Valley site and has contributed more than $300 million toward the cleanup under the West Valley Demonstration Project Act of 1980. It’s the only state in the U.S. that shares the cost of high-level waste cleanup.

Walsh also participated in a listening session with members of the West Valley Citizen Task Force, a group of western New York residents who provide recommendations on completion of the cleanup and the site’s closure or long-term management. He thanked them for continued engagement and emphasized the importance of their role in the project’s ongoing success.

Members of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) leadership team visit Kesselring. From left: Naval Reactors (NR) Representative Nathan Victor; NR D&D Deputy Director Robert "Zeke" Kollman; NR D&D Director Kevin Collins; NR Representative Shayne Schumacher, Kesselring; EM Consolidated Business Center New York (EMCBC-NY) Deputy Director and Federal Project Director Erik Pakosz; EMCBC-NY Director and Federal Project Director Martin Krentz; EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne; EM Assistant Secretary Tim Walsh; EMCBC Acting Director Melody Bell; EM Director of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Justin Doil; EM Chief Operating Officer David Brunnert; EM Chief of Staff Alicia Stetin; EM Deputy Chief of Staff John Howard; and NR Reactor Materials Division Director Jason Harman.

Further east, in upstate New York, Walsh met with the EM team and NR leadership to review cleanup progress at Kesselring and KAPL.

“Our work here is truly pivotal,” EMCBC-NY Site Manager Martin Krentz said. “Here in New York, there's a deep nuclear legacy, and the unique partnership between EM and Naval Reactors at Kesselring and KAPL is revitalizing space for future national security mission needs.”

EM's mission is inseparable from national security. Across the DOE complex, EM provides essential cleanup, decommissioning and demolition support to national laboratories and defense facilities that underpin national defense.

Members of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) leadership team visit Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL). From left: Naval Reactors (NR) D&D Deputy Director Robert "Zeke" Kollman; NR D&D Director Kevin Collins; EM Consolidated Business Center New York (EMCBC-NY) Deputy Director and Federal Project Director Erik Pakosz; EM Deputy Chief of Staff John Howard; EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne; KAPL Site Manager Gregory Holden; EM Assistant Secretary Tim Walsh; Naval Nuclear Laboratory Site Director Josh Heider, KAPL; EM Chief Operating Officer David Brunnert; EMCBC Acting Director Melody Bell; EM Chief of Staff Alicia Stetin; EM Director of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Justin Doil; and EMCBC-NY Director and Federal Project Director Martin Krentz.

-Contributors: Karen Edson, Joseph Pillittere