View source for West Valley Demonstration Project

{{Short description|Nuclear waste remediation site outside Buffalo, NY}}
[[File:West Valley Demonstration Project 08202016.jpg|thumb|250px|The West Valley Demonstration Project core processing facility, viewed from Rock Springs Road, in August 2016.]]
{{Location map | USA New York inset
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The '''West Valley Demonstration Project''' is a [[nuclear waste]] [[environmental remediation|remediation]] site in [[West Valley, New York]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[New York (state)|New York]]. The project focuses on the cleanup and containment of radioactive waste left behind after the abandonment of a commercial [[nuclear reprocessing|nuclear fuel reprocessing]] plant in 1980.<ref name="DOE_history">{{cite web |url=http://www.wv.doe.gov/Site_History.html |title=West Valley Demonstration Project Nuclear Timeline |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy |accessdate=March 20, 2015}}</ref> The project was created by an [[Act of Congress]] in 1980 and is directed to be a cooperative effort between the [[United States Department of Energy]] and the [[New York State Energy Research and Development Authority]].<ref name="NYSERDA_overview">{{cite web |url=http://www.nyserda.ny.gov/Cleantech-and-Innovation/Environment/West-Valley/West-Valley-Demonstration-Project |title=West Valley Demonstration Project - NYSERDA |date=November 20, 2014 |publisher=NYS Energy Research and Development Authority |accessdate=March 20, 2015}}</ref>

Despite over 30 years of cleanup efforts and billions of dollars having been spent at the site, the West Valley Demonstration Project property was described as "arguably [[Western New York|Western New York's]] most toxic location" in 2013.<ref name="BN_WVDPtoxic">{{cite web |url=http://www.buffalonews.com/20130423/wny_x2019_s_most_toxic_site_defies_u_s_effort_threatens_water.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402112216/http://buffalonews.com/20130423/wny_x2019_s_most_toxic_site_defies_u_s_effort_threatens_water.html |archivedate=April 2, 2015 |title=WNY's most toxic site defies U.S. effort, threatens water |newspaper=The Buffalo News |date=April 23, 2013 |last1=Herbeck |first1=Dan |last2=Pignataro |first2=T.J. |accessdate=February 17, 2017}}</ref>

==History==
===1965 to 1980: Commercial operations by Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.===
The State of New York acquired {{convert|3345|acres|km2}} of land in the [[Ashford, New York|Town of Ashford]], near West Valley, in 1961 with the intention of developing an atomic industrial area. The property was named the '''Western New York Nuclear Service Center''' and would eventually host a commercial [[spent nuclear fuel]] reprocessing plant and [[low-level waste|low-level]] radioactive waste disposal site that was operated by [[Nuclear Fuel Services|Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.]]<ref name="DOE_history"/>

Nuclear Fuel Services was a subsidiary of the [[W.R. Grace Company]] in 1963, when the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]] granted the company the necessary permits to reprocess spent fuel at the West Valley site. The first shipments of spent fuel arrived at the site in 1965, and reprocessing began the next year. In 1969, Nuclear Fuel Services was acquired by [[Getty Oil]].<ref name="DOE_NFS_processSummary">{{cite web |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy Office of Defense Programs |title=Plutonium & Uranium Recovery from Spent Fuel Reprocessing by Nuclear Fuel Services at West Valley, New York from 1966 to 1972 |url=http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1219/ML12194A610.pdf |accessdate=March 21, 2015 |date=November 1999}}</ref>{{rp|5}}

[[File:HD.6B.380 (11856734736).jpg|thumb|200px|left|A 23-ton cask containing a single [[fuel element]] is lowered into the unloading pool at Nuclear Fuel Services' West Valley reprocessing plant circa 1966.]]
The plant reprocessed spent [[nuclear reactor|reactor]] fuel at the site from 1966 to 1972. During this time period, the facility processed {{convert|1983.7|kg}} of [[plutonium]] and {{convert|625.7|metric ton|lb}} of spent [[uranium]].<ref name="DOE_NFS_processSummary"/>{{rp|10–12}} Using the [[PUREX]] process, the plant was able to recover {{convert|1926|kg}} of plutonium and {{convert|620|metric ton|lb}} of uranium. Most of the recovered uranium was depleted or slightly enriched; only {{convert|0.9|metric ton|lb}} was highly enriched.<ref name="DOE_NFS_processSummary"/>{{rp|1–2}}

The reprocessing of fuel also resulted in the accumulation of {{convert|660000|USgal|m3}} of [[high-level waste|high-level]] radioactive waste in an underground storage tank.<ref name="DOE_history"/><ref name=DEC_history>{{cite web |last1=Thier |first1=Audrey |title=Report from the Commissioner's Policy Office: West Valley, History and Future |url=http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/westvalley2008.pdf |publisher=NYS Department of Environmental Conservation |accessdate=March 21, 2015 |date=April 2008}}</ref> An additional {{convert|15|acres|km2}} of the property was licensed by New York State for burial of low-level radioactive waste in {{convert|20|ft|adj=on}} deep trenches.<ref name="USGS_WVDP_permeability">{{Cite report |last1=Prudic |first1=David E. |date=1980 |title=Permeability of covers over low-level radioactive-waste burial trenches, West Valley, Cattaraugus County, New York |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/1980/0055/report.pdf |work=U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report |number=80–55 |page=3 |accessdate=March 21, 2015}}</ref> After reprocessing operations ceased in 1972, Nuclear Fuel Services continued to accept low-level radioactive waste for disposal at the site until it was discovered that contaminated water was leaking from the trenches. Nuclear Fuel Services was unable to obtain regulatory approval to remove and treat the contaminated water, and stopped accepting waste for burial in 1975. In total, approximately {{convert|2400000|ft3}} of low-level waste was buried at the site.<ref name="ORAU_report">{{Cite report |last1=Burns, Jr. |first1=Robert E. |date=August 17, 2007 |title=Site Profile for the West Valley Demonstration Project |url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/pdfs/tbd/wvdp-r0-p1.pdf |work=Oak Ridge Associated Universities Team Dose Reconstruction Project for NIOSH |number=ORAUT-TKBS-0057 |accessdate=May 8, 2015}}</ref>{{rp|44}}

Escalating regulation required plant modifications which were deemed uneconomic by Nuclear Fuel Services, who ceased all operations at the facility in 1976. After Nuclear Fuel Services' lease expired in 1980, the site and its accumulated waste became the responsibility of New York State.<ref name="DOE_history"/>

The former plant remains the only privately owned nuclear fuel reprocessing center to have ever operated in the United States.<ref name=DEC_history/> Two additional private nuclear fuel reprocessing plants were constructed (one by [[General Electric]] in [[Morris, Illinois]], and another by [[Allied General Nuclear Services]] in [[Barnwell, South Carolina]]), but were never permitted to operate. Other reprocessing plants in the United States have been operated by the U.S. Department of Energy rather than private companies.<ref name="DOE_NFS_processSummary"/>{{rp|4}}

===1980 to present: U.S. Department of Energy's West Valley Demonstration Project===
The West Valley Demonstration Project Act (Public Law 96-368) was passed by the [[United States Congress]] in 1980, and directed the [[United States Department of Energy]] to lead the task of solidifying and removing the accumulated nuclear waste present on the site, in addition to decontaminating and decommissioning the facility and surrounding property.<ref name="WVDP_act">{{cite act |title=West Valley Demonstration Project Act |number=96-368 |date=October 1, 1980 |url=http://www.nyserda.ny.gov/-/media/Files/EE/West-Valley/West-Valley-Demonstration-Project/WVDP-act.pdf |accessdate=March 20, 2015}}</ref> The processes used to solidify and contain the site's nuclear waste were intended to demonstrate strategies that could be used at other cleanup sites.<ref name="NYSERDA_overview"/>

On October 1, 1980, the U.S. Department of Energy entered into a cooperative agreement with the [[New York State Energy Research and Development Authority]] to determine an operational framework for cleanup activities at the site. The agreement specified that the USDOE would take the lead on the project and obtain exclusive control over the site's {{convert|175|acre|km2|adj=on}} high-security core area, while NYSERDA would represent New York State's interests in the project and manage the remainder of the site's property. It also stipulated that the U.S. Federal Government would pay for 90% of the project's costs, with New York State paying the remainder.<ref name="NYSERDA_overview"/>

Site operations began in February 1982, after West Valley Nuclear Services Company, Inc. (then a subsidiary of [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation]]) was chosen by the USDOE as the primary contractor for work to be done at the West Valley Demonstration Project.<ref>{{cite web |author1=CH2M HILL |author2=B&W West Valley, LLC |title=West Valley Demonstration Project Annual Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2013 |url=http://www.wv.doe.gov/Document_Index/ACER_2013/ASER_2013.pdf |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy |accessdate=March 21, 2015 |date=September 2014}}</ref>{{rp|INT-3}}

==See also==
*[[Nuclear fuel]]
*[[Nuclear fuel cycle]]
*[[Sellafield]]
*[[COGEMA La Hague site]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|West Valley Demonstration Project}}
* [http://www.wv.doe.gov U.S. Department of Energy's West Valley Demonstration Project website]
** [http://www.wv.doe.gov/Document_Index/ACER_2013/ASER_2013.pdf West Valley Demonstration Project Annual Site Environmental Report for Calendar Year 2013]
* [http://www.wv.doe.gov/Document_Index/Hearing_1977.pdf 1977 Congressional hearing on decommissioning]
* [http://www.nyserda.ny.gov/-/media/Files/EE/West-Valley/West-Valley-Demonstration-Project/cooperative-Agreement-DOE-NYSERDA.PDF WVDP Cooperative Agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency]
* [http://energy.gov/nepa/downloads/eis-0226-final-environmental-impact-statement 2010 Final Environmental Impact Statement for Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship at the West Valley Demonstration Project and Western New York Nuclear Service Center]
* [http://www.clui.org/section/west-valley-reprocessing-and-disposal-site Entry from the ''Center for Land Use Interpretation's'' exhibit "Perpetual Architecture: Uranium Disposal Cells of America"]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xAlXteRiXQ 1960s film by Nuclear Fuel Services about their West Valley facility]
* [http://westvalleyctf.org/ West Valley Citizen Task Force]
* [http://www.digitup.org The Coalition on West Valley Wastes]

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[[Category:Nuclear reprocessing sites]]
[[Category:Nuclear technology in the United States]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Cattaraugus County, New York]]
[[Category:Nuclear fuel infrastructure in the United States]]
[[Category:Radioactive waste repositories in the United States]]
[[Category:Radioactively contaminated areas]]