PROGRESS ON CLEANING UP THE ONLY COMMERCIAL NUCLEAR FUEL REPROCESSING FACILITY TO OPERATE IN THE UNITED STATES

摘要

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 ofthe only commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing facility to have operated in the United States (1966to 1972). Former fuel reprocessing operations generated approximately 600,000 gallons of liquidhigh-level radioactive waste stored in underground tanks. The U.S. Congress passed the WVDPAct 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 andDevelopment Authority (NYSERDA). The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has overallresponsibility for the cleanup that is authorized by the WVDP Act, paying 90 percent of the WVDPcosts; NYSERDA pays 10 percent. West Valley Nuclear Services Company (WVNSCO) is themanagement contractor at the WVDP.This paper will provide a description of the many accomplishments at the WVDP, including thepretreatment 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 wastetanks, the commencement of decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) activities to place thesite in a safe configuration for long-term site management options, and achievement of severaltechnological firsts. It will also include a discussion of the complexities involved in completing theWVDP due to the various agency interests that require integration for future cleanup decisions.