Press Release-10-038, NRC Concludes Review of DOEs Phase 1 Decommissioning Plan for West Valley Demonstration Project
| ML100601020 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | P00M-032 |
| Issue date: | 03/01/2010 |
| From: | Office of Public Affairs |
| To: | |
| References | |
| Press Release-10-038 | |
| Download: ML100601020 (2) | |
Text
NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov Site: http://www.nrc.gov No.10-038 March 1, 2010 NRC CONCLUDES REVIEW OF DOES PHASE 1 DECOMMISSIONING PLAN FOR WEST VALLEY DEMONSTRATION PROJECT The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has concluded its technical review of the Department of Energys Phase 1 decommissioning plan for the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) in western New York state. The NRC did not identify any objections and concluded that the plan will satisfy the decommissioning criteria for unrestricted use spelled out in NRC regulations.
The West Valley site is located on 3,300 acres of land known as the Western New York Nuclear Service Center. The WVDP site, which is a 200-acre portion of the center, contains a former commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing facility that operated from 1966 to 1972, and produced approximately 600,000 gallons of liquid high-level radioactive waste. The WVDP also contains contaminated structures and a radioactive waste disposal area. The site also has a waste tank farm, waste lagoons, and above-ground radioactive waste storage areas, with soil and groundwater contamination near these facilities.
DOEs Phase 1 decommissioning plan envisions remediation activities within the WVDP site boundary, including removal of the main plant process building, the vitrification facility, source area of the North Plateau groundwater plume, wastewater treatment facility lagoons, and ancillary buildings, foundations, slabs and pads. Phase 1 activities would also include additional characterization of site contamination and studies to support the technical approach to complete site decommissioning.
Through the West Valley Demonstration Project Act of 1980, Congress gave NRC authority to review and consult with DOE informally on certain matters related to the project. In a subsequent memorandum of understanding, the two agencies agreed that NRC would review and comment on DOEs decommissioning plan, and that DOE would review and consider NRCs comments before initiating Phase 1 decommissioning activities.
Phase 2 decommissioning of the remainder of the WVDP and center, or its long-term management, will be determined in the future and are not part of this decommissioning plan.
The NRCs Technical Evaluation Report on the Phase I decommissioning plan, as well as NRCs letter to DOE transmitting the report, are available in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management Systems (ADAMS) under accession number ML100360030. ADAMS is accessible via the agencys Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Help in using ADAMS is available by contacting the NRCs Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at PDR.Resource@nrc.gov.
NOTE: Anyone wishing to take photos or use a camera to record any portion of a NRC meeting should contact the Office of Public Affairs beforehand.
News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.