Progress on Cleaning Up the Only Commercial Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Facility to Operate in the United States
This paper describes the progress on cleanup of the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP), an environmental management project located south of Buffalo, NY. The WVDP was the site of the only commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing facility to have operated in the United States (1966 to 1972). Former fuel reprocessing operations generated approximately 600,000 gallons of liquid high-level radioactive waste stored in underground tanks. The U.S. Congress passed the WVDP Act in 1980 (WVDP Act) to authorize cleanup of the 220-acre facility. The facility is unique in that it sits on the 3,345-acre Western New York Nuclear Service Center (WNYNSC), which is owned by New York State through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has overall responsibility for the cleanup that is authorized by the WVDP Act, paying 90 percent of the WVDP costs; NYSERDA pays 10 percent. West Valley Nuclear Services Company (WVNSCO) is the management contractor at the WVDP. This paper will provide a description of the many accomplishments at the WVDP, including the pretreatment and near completion of vitrification of all the site's liquid high-level radioactive waste, a demonstration of technologies to characterize the remaining material in the high-level waste tanks, the commencement of decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) activities to place the site in a safe configuration for long-term site management options, and achievement of several technological firsts. It will also include a discussion of the complexities involved in completing the WVDP due to the various agency interests that require integration for future cleanup decisions.
- Research Organization:
- U.S. Department of Energy; West Valley Nuclear Services Company, West Valley, NY (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 833329
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste Management 2002 Symposium, Tucson, AZ (US), 02/24/2002--02/28/2002; Other Information: PBD: 26 Feb 2002
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
CLEANING
CONFIGURATION
CONTRACTORS
DECOMMISSIONING
DECONTAMINATION
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
NUCLEAR FUELS
REPROCESSING
TANKS
VITRIFICATION
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES