CHBWV COMPLETES FIRST MAJOR DEMO AT WEST VALLEY

West Valley Demonstration Project cleanup contractor CH2M Hill B&W West Valley, LLC, announced yesterday the completion of its first major nuclear facility demolition project, the 01-14 Building. After starting closure activities of the facility  in 2011, open-air demolition began in December and was completed in May. The four-story building was used to support vitrification of waste produced at the former reprocessing plant. DOE West Valley Deputy Director Craig Rieman said in a statement, “The demolition and removal of the 01-14 Building is an important accomplishment in the progress to decommission the WVDP.”  

This marks the first open-air demo of a radioactive facility in New York since the contamination incident at the Separations Process Research Unit in 2010, and officials emphasized that 16 air monitoring stations were set up around the site during the work. “This effort showed that robust engineering controls coupled with abundant monitoring techniques can accomplish safe removal of nuclear facilities and will be used to build on future demolition activities,” Rieman said. CHBWV President Dan Coyne said in a statement, “The CH2M HILL B&W West Valley workforce was deliberate in the planning and execution of the work, resulting in the safe, compliant demolition of the 01-14 Building. Every effort was made to protect the workforce and the environment."