West Valley Revamps Office Building to Support Main Plant Demolition

WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – EM and its cleanup contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) have redesigned an office building to support cleanup activities as they prepare to begin the teardown of the former Main Plant Process Building, an EM 2022 priority.

“The reconfiguration of this former office building will provide support for our dedicated workers who will be directly involved in the demolition of the Main Plant,” EM WVDP Director Bryan Bower said. “This facility will become an integral part in helping EM continue its mission of reducing legacy risks and lifecycle costs.”

The building, now called the Demolition Support Complex, includes locker rooms with showers, space for personal protective equipment, a radiation monitoring control room, a respirator issuance room, and a large area for work briefings, meetings and lunch, among other things.

Workers with contractor CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley will change into protective clothing in the complex before entering the Main Plant demolition work area. After they finish work in that area, they will return to the complex to remove the protective clothing and prepare to leave the site. The building is designed to protect employees and the environment by controlling radiological and industrial hazards.

Previously known as the “10-Plex,” the building was constructed using 10 double-wide office trailers. It housed several employees from different departments who have since moved to other office locations at WVDP.

The five-story, 35,000-square-foot Main Plant was constructed in the 1960s as a commercial reprocessing facility to recover reusable plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear reactor fuel. It operated from 1966 to 1972.