The U.S. Department of Energy and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) are accepting public comments through April 23 on environmental implications of the next phase of cleanup planned for the West Valley Demonstration Project (NVDP) in Ashford, N.Y.
The state and federal agencies issued a notice of intent Wednesday in the Federal Register to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement on decommissioning and long-term management of the site. The WVDP is roughly 200 acres of the 3,300-acre Western New York Nuclear Service Center, which would also be covered by the supplemental EIS.
The property was home to a commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, which stopped operation in the mid-1970s. NYSERDA now owns the property. Congress in 1980 made DOE responsible for solidifying and disposing of the site’s high-level waste and decommissioning its buildings. Phase 1 decommissioning, which includes the demolition and off-site disposal of most of the above-ground facilities, is expected by to be complete by 2030.
The supplemental EIS will consider what to do with certain facilities expected to remain after completion of Phase 1 remediation. Alternatives ranging from enclosing contaminated material in place to “sitewide removal” will be evaluated, according to the Federal Register notice. Hybrid options will also be studied.
Areas still in need of attention after Phase 1 cleanup include a waste tank farm, a disposal area licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, part of the North Plateau groundwater plume, the balance of the Western New York Nuclear Service Center property and a state-licensed disposal area.
The supplemental EIS would support the environmental impact statement DOE and the state issued in 2010 on the West Valley site. In 2010, the parties elected to pursue phased decision-making on site cleanup.
The SEIS process satisfies the state and federal agencies responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act. Things get off to a busy start in March with public scoping meetings scheduled in West Valley, Buffalo, and Irving.
The parties plan to issue the draft supplemental EIS by the end of 2020. The Energy Department and NYSERDA expect to make decisions on Phase 2 of the West Valley cleanup in 2022.
For more information about the West Valley Demonstration Project or the supplemental EIS, contact Martin Krentz of DOE [email protected].
