The public comment period on the scope of a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) for the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) in New York state has been extended by a month, to May 25. The deadline for comments had been today.
The extension is being announced in an April 23 notice in the Federal Register signed by James Owendoff, the Energy Department’s principal deputy assistant secretary for environmental management.
Once the location of a commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, WVDP covers 200 acres within the 3,300-acre Western New York Nuclear Service Center in the town of Ashford. The full site would also be covered by the supplemental EIS.
The Energy Department and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) are extending the comment period to help determine the scope of what is covered in the EIS regarding decommissioning and long-term stewardship for the properties.
The state and federal agencies said Feb. 21 they were preparing the supplemental EIS under the National Environmental Policy Act. Three scoping meetings have been held since then in New York state.
The agencies expect to issue the draft supplemental EIS by the end of 2020. The original document was published in 2010.
A major issue the supplemental EIS will determine is what to do with certain facilities expected to remain at the site after completion of Phase 1 remediation by 2030. Contractor CH2M Hill BWXT West Valley has an 8.6-year, $461.4 million contract for West Valley decommissioning that runs through March 2020.
For more information, contact DOE document manager Martin Krentz at [email protected].
