| GLOBAL NUCLEAR


No easy task First ever U.S. vitrification facility demolition sets the bar for future projects


DEMOLISHING A 50-FEET TALL, 10,000 square foot building with reinforced concrete walls up to four feet thick and doors weighing up to 100 tons is difficult enough. But the Vitrification Facility at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) in New York State also contained radiological and hazardous contaminants. The safe, open-air demolition of the facility, where liquid, high-level radioactive waste has been solidified in glass form since the 1980s, was therefore a landmark achievement for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management and its Jacobs-led cleanup contractor CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley, LLC (CHBWV). The first facility of its kind in the U.S to have been built, successfully operated and demolished, it is the largest and


most complex radioactively contaminated building to be removed at the WVDP to date. “The safe demolition of the Vitrification Facility is an important accomplishment in the progress to decommission the site,” Jacobs North American Nuclear Senior Vice President and General Manager Karen Wiemelt said. “For some of our workers, this was a bitter-sweet accomplishment, as they were here when the Vitrification Facility was constructed decades ago. We applaud the tremendous effort required to safely remove this nuclear facility.”


The CHBWV team was deliberate in the planning and


execution of this critical workscope, which resulted in the safe and compliant demolition of the Vitrification Facility. Protecting the workforce and the environment


Closing the circle The logistics of packaging and moving hundreds of high-level waste (HLW) canisters within an aging nuclear facility are bound to pose numerous technical challenges.


In all, 278 canisters of vitrified HLW stored at the West Valley


Demonstration Project (WVDP) in New York State had to be moved from their former location inside the Main Plant Process Building (MPPB) to an outdoor pad for long-term, on-site storage. But the safe, innovative and collaborative approach adopted by CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley, LLC (CHBWV), the Jacobs-led prime contractor to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) at the WVDP, ensured that all went smoothly. Relocation of the waste, which dates back to the 1990s, was necessary to enable pre-demolition activities inside the MPPB to proceed. Preparations were carried out to resolve issues relating to sub-surface soil subsidence, antiquated equipment, and facility reconfigurations to support up to 48-ton loads.


New equipment and fabrications were required, including a robust


storage system consisting of stainless steel canister overpacks within steel-reinforced Vertical Storage Casks, three specialty cask transporters, a


remotely operated welding system and construction of an outdoor engineered storage pad to store the 56 casks containing the relocated HLW canisters.


This was a first-of-a-kind HLW storage project and came shortly after


the reorganization of DOE-Environmental Management and DOE- Radioactive Waste functions. It was imperative that the prime contractor work closely with DOE-WVDP on compliance strategies for off-site storage or disposal.


These included approval of the Documented Safety Analysis (DSA) for


the HLWSS as below Category 3 Nuclear Facility, transfer of the non-fixed contamination limits to the HLW Overpack, evaluation and acceptance of three non-conforming HLW canistered waste forms, and U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval of the Certificate of Compliance revisions to the NAC-STC shipping cask. Packaging and relocation of the vitrified HLW commenced in November 2015 and was completed almost a year ahead of schedule in November 2016. The highly successful project came in under budget and with an excellent safety record. This success was the result of extensive planning, specialized equipment, and a well-planned schedule. ■


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