On the first day, the storage cask is transported to the Main Process Plant Building, where the overpack lid and lid shield are removed.
Five HLW canisters are loaded into the overpack inside the cask, and a survey for radiological conditions is completed.
The loaded cask is moved to a welding station. After cask positioning, scaffolding is locked into position. Following surveys and a cleanliness inspection by the welders, the automated welding system is prepared.
The overpack lid is welded onto the overpack by a trained welder using the automated welding system. After inspection, three additional weld passes are performed, followed by inspection to ensure the weld meets all specifications.
Following required radiological surveys, the cask lid is placed and bolted down. The storage cask is lifted by a transporter and towed to the HLW storage pad.
WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – With the passing of winter, EM’s West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) crews have resumed relocating canisters of high-level waste (HLW).
In a project that’s almost a year ahead of schedule, the workers have moved 35 of 275 canisters of the vitrified waste — or liquid, radioactive waste converted into a solid, durable glass — from the Main Plant Process Building to an onsite interim storage pad until EM determines a permanent repository for the waste.
The crews have transported the 35 canisters in seven casks, and starting in June, they will relocate 10 canisters in two casks each week until the job is complete in early December this year.
It takes five work shifts to remove five canisters from the building and place them in a stainless steel overpack. The overpack goes inside a 70-ton, concrete storage cask, which is transferred to the storage pad. The storage casks, which are assembled onsite, have a 50-year design life to ensure long-term safety for storing the HLW.
With the relocation work resuming, the crews have been busy testing equipment, training and retraining to perform automated welding of the overpack and cask lids, and incorporating lessons learned from transporting the first batch of casks late last year.
EM conducts the WVDP in cooperation with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority on the Western New York Nuclear Service Center, the site of the nation’s only operational commercial spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, about 35 miles south of Buffalo, N.Y.
The WVDP was mandated by Congress in 1980 to solidify the HLW that remained after the reprocessing plant shut down in 1972 and to decommission the facilities. The liquid waste was vitrified between 1996 and 2002, and placed into the 275 canisters, which were stored inside the Main Plant Process Building.
The photos show the evolution of each canister over a five-day period.