In a reversal, the current Energy Department contractor will start tearing down the Main Plant Process Building at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state.
The Energy Department said earlier this year the demolition would be conducted under a successor to the current site cleanup contract held by CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley (CHBWV).
But now the plan is to start the process under the current $544 million contract, which runs through early March 2020, the CH2M deputy general manager of the project, John Rendall, said in a March 27 presentation to the West Valley Citizen Task Force.
Earlier in March, CHBWV President and General Manager Scott Anderson said at the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix that demolishing the Main Plant Process Building might start under the current contract, which began in August 2011.
From 1966 to 1972, the building served as a commercial reprocessing plant to recover reusable plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear fuel for owner Nuclear Fuel Services, which was the only commercial nuclear reprocessing facility in the United States.
The Main Plant Process Building is a reinforced concrete facility measuring 130 feet wide, 270 feet long, and 79 feet high at its tallest point. Deactivation is 96% complete, with the final tasks including removal of asbestos and tools used in cleanup of radiological areas. Major work in the most challenging areas is finished, and deactivation continues in the vent wash room, vent supply room, and equipment decontamination room, according to Rendall’s presentation.
Next in line for deactivation are a utility room, utility room extension, main plant office, and load-In facility. Deactivation involves rendering a facility inoperable and eventually turning off its electric and water utilities.
The contractor and DOE did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the change in plans for tearing down the main plant building.
Demolition of 28 of the 47 “balance of site” facilities is complete, Rendall says. Also, demolition of three of the seven ancillary support buildings is finished.
The West Valley Demonstration Project occupies about 200 acres within the 3,300-acre Western New York Nuclear Service Center. Last fall, DOE issued a request for information on additional environmental remediation at the site. The next contract has been deemed “Phase 1B” of deactivating and demolishing buildings at West Valley, plus soil remediation.
The Energy Department has not said when it expects to issue a draft request for proposals.
