West Valley Shares 3D Model, Lessons Learned With Oak Ridge to Advance Cleanup

This 3D model shows areas of the Main Plant Process Building demolition project that have been completed in yellow. Workers at West Valley Demonstration Project have removed 52 of the building’s 56 cells since the start of the demolition in September 2022.

WEST VALLEY, N.Y. — West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) officials met with representatives from the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) in Tennessee to share lessons learned from the ongoing demolition of the Main Plant Process Building.

The meeting focused on West Valley’s 3D model of the Main Plant — an indispensable tool for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) that shows everything from walls and support beams to equipment and piping.

Subject matter experts from West Valley and OREM met virtually to discuss the model and how it is used to help guide the West Valley workforce through a safe and compliant demolition. EM has completed 85% of the Main Plant deconstruction.

OREM is taking down excess contaminated facilities across the Oak Ridge Reservation, which eliminates risks and opens land for reuse to support research and national security missions. Teams are set to demolish the final hot cell at the former Radioisotope Development Laboratory at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) this year. Workers will also advance efforts that are preparing more than a dozen facilities for future demolition. That list includes the Oak Ridge Research Reactor, Graphite Reactor support facilities and Isotope Row facilities at ORNL.

Workers at the West Valley Demonstration Project use the site’s 3D model at pre-job briefings each workday to prepare for demolition activities.

Created with the help of onsite engineers and an outside company prior to the start of the demolition, the 3D model was used to determine the rate and sequence crews would deconstruct the Main Plant. The project has been successful with no incidents, unplanned releases or injuries.

The model showed the locations of more than 120 items requiring special handling and packaging. It also pinpointed multiple locations of specialty piping with high radiation potential and asbestos-containing material, which is hazardous. Crews applied all required safety measures for that material to the Main Plant demolition. Engineers used the model to evaluate the plant’s walls, components, structural members and obstructions, allowing for an analysis of structural integrity and hazard points as the demolition sequence unfolded.

Evan Koelker, a Savannah River National Laboratory senior scientist, noticed an abstract submitted to this year’s Waste Management Symposia on West Valley’s 3D model and thought information about the technology would be useful for his colleagues at OREM. He contacted West Valley to help schedule a meeting to learn more about the 3D model.

“Being able to share experiences, expertise and lessons learned is an important element in being a learning organization,” said Koelker. “Obtaining information and lessons learned from a successful project is a formula for success, and ensuring that information is available for future teams and projects is a formula for progress.”

Neil Armknecht, facility disposition engineer with West Valley cleanup contractor CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley (CHBWV), said West Valley is happy to share its lessons learned in support of similar risk-reduction activities at Oak Ridge.

“The open exchange of information and collaboration among the sites benefits cleanup efforts across the DOE complex,” Armknecht said.

Daniel Hurst, a project engineer with OREM contractor UCOR, believes that sharing information is vital to success.

“When one site has figured out how to perform work safer and more efficient while maintaining environmental compliance, it needs to be shared across the complex for continuous improvement,” Hurst said. “For us at UCOR, we have a specific need to use what West Valley has done to better plan and execute some of our future characterization work. Finding better ways to perform cleanup activities now is important to help our current and future workforce and protect the public for generations to come.”

Gaining insight from lessons learned is not a one-time activity, said Jason Casper, CHBWV president.

“Our learning has not stopped. It continues everyday as we perform cleanup efforts to reduce legacy risks as we learn from other sites,” he said. “OREM and WVDP, along with other sites, will continue to share lessons learned and best practices for the benefit of our employees, the general public, the taxpayer and the environment.”

The above-grade portion of the Main Plant is one of the last major facilities remaining at West Valley. Its successful demolition will further reduce environmental risks and position the site for the next phase in cleanup. The demolition is expected to be completed this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

-Contributor: Joseph Pillittere