Passage of a law to reauthorize the U.S. Energy Department’s cleanup of the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York state drew kudos Wednesday from participants at a local meeting.
The measure, which passed the U.S. Senate on Dec. 2 and was subsequently signed into law by President Donald Trump on Dec. 20, would reauthorize West Valley funding at $75 million per year through fiscal 2026, roughly equal to the enacted budgets for fiscal 2019 and 2020.
The measure was originally introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), whose district includes West Valley.
During the meeting of the in a West Valley CitizenTask Force, Ashford Town Supervisor John Pfeffer also noted that West Valley is getting an unexpected $1 million increase in funding for safety and security at the cleanup site. Security funding for West Valley is rising from $3.1 million in fiscal 2019 to almost $4.2 million in the current fiscal 2020, according to a chart presented at the meeting.
It appears the funding is allotted from the DOE Office of Environmental Management’s $313 million safeguards and security line item, which overall increased from $304 million in fiscal 2019. In addition to cybersecurity improvements, Pfeffer said that extra money might be used to help fund an around-the-clock presence at West Valley by the local sheriff’s office.
West Valley is located on 200 acres within the state-owned, 3,300-acre Western New York Nuclear Service Center. The property was home to a commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant between 1966 and 1972. The Energy Department foots the bill for 90% of environmental remediation at the site, which includes demolition of old buildings and treatment of waste. The rest of the money comes from the state.
The task force advises the Energy Department on budget and policy issues at West Valley.
