West Valley Demonstration Project

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The West Valley Demonstration Project is located on a 1,320 hectare- (3,300-acre) tract approximately 48 kilometers (30 miles) south of Buffalo, New York. This site is also the location of the Western New York Nuclear Services Center. The West Valley Demonstration Project occupies approximately 93 hectares (230 acres) of this property, which is owned by the State of New York. The Department of Energy manages the West Valley Demonstration Project oversight responsibilities through the onsite area office.

FACILITY MISSION

From 1966 to 1972, Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. operated a commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at the Western New York Nuclear Services Center under contract to the State of New York. The plant, which reprocessed uranium and plutonium from spent nuclear fuel, generated approximately 2.3 million liters (600,000 gallons) of liquid high-level waste that was stored in underground tanks. In 1972, nuclear fuel reprocessing operations were discontinued. Contamination at the site is a result of the historic commercial nuclear fuel assembly and reprocessing operations rather than from a weapons mission.

In 1980, Congress passed Public Law 96-368, the West Valley Demonstration Project Act, which authorizes the Department of Energy to conduct a technology demonstration project for the safe solidification and cleanup of the high-level waste and facilities used during cleanup. The Act also requires the Department to develop containers suitable for the permanent disposal of the solidified high-level radioactive waste and to transport the waste to an appropriate federal repository for permanent disposal. The cost estimates in this report were developed consistent with the provisions of the West Valley Demonstration Project Act and do not include any costs beyond those associated with transporting of the high-level waste to the federal repository. By provisions in the Act, low-level and transuranic waste resulting from high-level waste processing at the West Valley Demonstration Project require disposal under applicable licensing regulations. Further, the high-level waste tanks and other facilities in which the solidified high-level radioactive waste was stored, the facilities used in the solidification of the waste, and any material and hardware used in connection with the demonstration project require decontamination and decommissioning. Previous litigation resulted in a Stipulation of Compromise issued by the United States District Court Western District of New York, which requires disposal of low-level and transuranic waste pending completion and direction of the Site Completion/Site Closure Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision. Consequently, low-level and transuranic waste has been placed in retrievable storage onsite.

After evaluating the alternatives presented in the initial Environmental Impact Statement in 1982, the Department of Energy selected vitrification as the treatment process to stabilize the liquid high-level waste for ultimate disposal at a federal repository as directed by the Act and the Stipulation of Compromise. New York State, through its Energy Research and Development Authority, cooperates in the West Valley Demonstration Project and currently contributes approximately ten percent of the project's phase I costs (through the vitrification campaign). For the purposes of this report, estimates through FY 2000 are for the Department of Energy only, based on the current 90 percent Department of Energy and ten percent New York State cost sharing agreement. Because the cost sharing agreement is only applicable to activities concluded through FY 2000, costs beyond that point represent project totals only, and this report assumes them to be 100 percent Department of Energy. The State of New York and the Department of Energy will negotiate cost sharing agreements for outyear activities at a later date, and estimated Department of Energy liability will be modified accordingly.

All environmental management activities at this site are a function of the West Valley Demonstration Project and are under the purview of the Office of Environmental Management. All decommissioning, environmental restoration and treatment, and storage and disposal activities are conducted within the scope of the waste management program.

The State of New York is, and will remain, the landlord for this facility throughout the life cycle covered by this report. The Department of Energy is responsible for maintaining areas of the site that present an environmental risk and that are related to fulfilling the West Valley Demonstration Project Act.

FUTURE USE

Because the Department of Energy does not own any portion of the Western New York Nuclear Service Center, there will be no future federal use of the site or facilities upon completion of the requirements of the Act. When the Department of Energy has completed its mission at the West Valley Demonstration Project, any remaining facilities and all land used by the Department of Energy will revert back to the State of New York. To the extent practicable, future use considerations for the area are being considered in the site-wide Draft Environmental Impact Statement, to which the State of New York is a partner. This document, which is being prepared under the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, has extensive stakeholder involvement. The Department of Energy, in accordance with legal site agreements, will leave the site in a condition that will allow the State of New York to reinstate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license and perform any future use that the State deems appropriate.

WASTE MANAGEMENT

All site activities, including high-level waste solidification, decontamination and decommissioning, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act corrective measures, and other necessary site remedial activities, are conducted within the scope of waste management operations. The Waste Management program is responsible for all waste generated during the fulfillment of the site mission. See the Site Map for the location of Waste Management program activities.

The West Valley Demonstration Project comprises the following major components:

1. Vitrification of Liquid High-level Waste. This activity is the primary mission and near-term (1996-1998) focus of the West Valley Demonstration Project. During the first portion of this demonstration project, the liquid high-level waste will be immobilized/vitrified in borosilicate glass and stored onsite. Decontamination and decommissioning of project facilities will follow vitrification. The solidification of the high-level waste liquid into borosilicate glass will begin in FY 1996 and will represent a significant achievement for the Department of Energy. The total estimated cost to complete the vitrification campaign is $400 million.
2. Site Transition Activities. This category includes a series of activities that, when completed in FY 2005, will reduce environmental risks and reduce operating costs during the transition from vitrification to project completion. Examples include: removing high-level waste tank farm residuals, stabilizing nuclear fuel fines and other selected material in the Process Building Head End cells, replacing leaking Process Building roof areas, minimizing the spread of ground-water contamination in the North Plateau Area, and minimizing site operations and support facility requirements. These activities can be accomplished without causing prejudice to the selection of the closure options in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Preliminary estimates for this work scope indicate that the effort will cost approximately $200 million.
3. Site Completion and Site Closure Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision. This category represents the work scope that will disposition the current facilities according to the outcome of the Site Completion and Site Closure Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision. The alternatives are detailed in the following discussion. The West Valley Demonstration Project currently is using an average of the estimates for the closure option, as the Draft Environmental Impact Statement closure engineering reports describe. The average of these alternatives is $1.6 billion.
4. Site Support and Operations. This category characterizes the ongoing annual site costs for project support activities. These activities include program management, security, regulatory compliance, radiological support, accounting, environmental safety and health, facilities management (engineering and maintenance), utilities, training, quality assurance, business systems, warehousing, and auditing. The average for these annual costs is approximately $56 million.

DESCRIPTION OF PERSONNEL

Current Composition

The current site personnel staffing level adequately addresses all of the required disciplines to operate and maintain the facility in a safe and compliant manner and are presented in the table below. The uncertainties associated with the lack of a specific site completion/site closure alternative complicate outyear forecasts. However, the present project management philosophy generally recognizes that the personnel level will be fairly constant, with a slow decline consistent with expected project funding levels. There are no expected hiring "peaks."

*The projections for Full-Time Equivalent employees are based on FY 1996 planning baselines (see Reader's Guide).

Site Management Structure

The Department of Energy established a prime contract for overall management of the West Valley Demonstration Project and the Westinghouse Electric Corporation was the successful bidder. Under contract to the Department, Westinghouse established the West Valley Nuclear Services Company, Inc. to carry out the activities necessary to achieve the goals of the West Valley's Demonstration Project. As the management and operating contractor, West Valley Nuclear Services Company is responsible for West Valley Demonstration Project's management and integration, conceptual design and engineering management, construction management, decontamination and decommissioning, and site/facility operation. West Valley Nuclear Services Company, within its authority, has subcontracted portions of the work to Dames & Moore (Environmental Services), Raytheon (Architectural Engineering Services), Bel Power (Construction Services), Burns International Security Company, and others. In addition, West Valley Nuclear Services has working technical support and interfaces with a number of national laboratories. As management and operating contractor, West Valley Nuclear Services assumed responsibility for site management in 1982.

In 1994, the Department of Energy extended the contract for the West Valley Demonstration Project with the West Valley Nuclear Services for five years. The nature of the contract was changed to a performance measurement-based contract with a focus on ensuring greater results. Measures and additional contractor ownership have been developed ensuring that the contractor is held responsible for its actions and is responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of the work. In response to contract reform initiatives, the extended contract includes innovative measures that cover all facets of work at the project. The previous award fee contract was changed to a performance-based fee plan, allowing West Valley Nuclear Services Company to share more risk with the Department of Energy and incorporating incentives for reward through performance excellence.

Future Full-Time Equivalent Needs

Existing personnel staffing levels and disciplines will be monitored to ensure an adequate composition of skills for the project while the mission evolves from high-level waste vitrification processing, to facility transition, to site completion and site closure, according to the Environmental Impact Statement /Record of Decision.

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following table presents estimated funding information for the West Valley site.

COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS ESTIMATE

This Baseline Environmental Management Report estimate compares favorably with the previous year's estimate regarding site support operations, vitrification of high-level waste, site treatment activities, and site completion and closure. Despite approximately $21 million in funding cuts and rescissions, there have been no serious impacts on the critical high-level waste vitrification baseline schedule. The ability to absorb these funding adjustments is primarily the result of cost savings initiatives and relatively minor replanning of noncritical closure activities.