WEST VALLEY, N.Y. - EM and its cleanup contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Site commended workers during a celebration last week for safely completing demolition of the first vitrification facility built in the U.S.
Officials with EM and CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley also recognized the workers for disposing of more than 3,000 containers of waste resulting from past cleanup activities.
EM WVDP Site Director Bryan Bower noted that the latest accomplishments demonstrate EM’s commitment to safe and compliant cleanup.
“I want to thank the WVDP team for achieving these major accomplishments in a safe and environmentally sound manner," Bower said. “It is the dedicated men and women at this site that make this cleanup possible."
EM Senior Advisor Taylor Playforth conveyed greetings from EM Assistant Secretary Anne White to the West Valley workforce, “and she asked me to personally thank you for all you’ve accomplished in the safe cleanup of environmental legacy resulting from previous operations."
Teardown of the 10,000-square-foot vitrification plant - once used to solidify thousands of gallons of radioactive waste at the WVDP - is EM’s largest and most complex environmental cleanup achievement at the West Valley site to date.
Work continues on remaining cleanup, including deactivation of the Main Plant Process Building and demolition of its ancillary buildings and structures.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
