DOE Reviewing Material Differences Submitted by Contractor
Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
2/6/2015
About three-and-a-half years into the West Valley cleanup contract, the Department of Energy is still incorporating material differences into the contract to set a final schedule for the demolition of the site’s main plant, DOE this week. Contractor CH2M Hill-B&W West Valley submitted the material differences before last October, and DOE had said it hoped to have completed all remaining contract changes by the end of 2014. CHBWV had originally been set to complete demolition of the plant by the end of its contract in April 2019, but contractor officials have said that additional scope discovered after contract award would likely push the work out into early 2020 once all material differences are accounted for. When asked for comment, DOE said in a statement: “The U.S. Department of Energy and CH2M Hill B&W West Valley LLC continue to have ongoing discussion regarding the West Valley Demonstration Project contact modification.” For its part, CHBWV referred request for comment to DOE.
In August 2011 CHBWV took over the cleanup contract at the former reprocessing facility in western New York state, with the main focus being demolition of the plant. However, before demolition can begin, about 278 high-level waste canisters must be moved out of the main plant. An interim storage pad has been constructed for the canisters and relocation is expected to begin this year. But completion of the relocation has been delayed into Fiscal Year 2016 due to some of the material differences discovered, according to DOE’s FY’16 budget request released this week.
DOE is currently in negotiations to incorporate material differences regarding removal of the Head-End Cell drums from the Chemical Processing Cell, the budget request states. “When the negotiations are completed, the milestone for the completion of the movement of the high-level waste canisters will be revised,” the budget request states. “Both the removal of the Head-End Cell Drums and the high-level waste canisters are currently on the critical path for the demolition of the Main Plant Process Building (the former reprocessing facility). Removal of the Head-End Cell Drums and the high-level waste will be performed in campaigns throughout FY 2016. After incorporation of the removal of the Head-End Cell drums into the contract, additional milestones will be finalized.”
