New Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC) is looking forward to a busy year of dispositioning waste, shipping waste out of state, starting radiological operations at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU), and
Idaho Cleanup Project Citizens Advisory Board
February 23, 2022
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New Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC) is looking forward to a busy year of dispositioning waste, shipping waste out of state, starting radiological operations at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU), and preparing for significant construction and demolition projects.
Waste Management personnel will soon complete the disposition of exhumed waste at the Accelerated Retrieval Project (ARP) IX facility. Following that, the plan is to drop all ARP structures in place and construct an earthen cover over the entire 97-acre Subsurface Disposal Area. It will be the largest construction project in the INL’s history. Crews will also complete the treatment of sludge waste this year.
IWTU engineers and operators are presently conducting a 50-day confirmatory run to test new ceramic filters, robotic arms in the canister fill cells, and to practice radiological operations in preparation for beginning sodium-bearing waste treatment later this year.
At the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center, fuel handlers continue to transfer spent nuclear fuel from wet to dry storage in compliance with the 2023 Idaho Settlement Agreement milestone. Nearby, engineers from the Calcine Retrieval Project continue testing retrieval equipment that will eventually be used to retrieve and transfer calcine from bin set #1 to bin set #6.
The Department of Energy and IEC will also outline plans for increased landfill capacity to accommodate debris from demolition projects and ongoing side-wide cleanup projects. Meanwhile, the closure of the largest building at the INL – the Transuranic Storage Area Retrieval Enclosure – continues.
New to the ICP contract is the management of Three Mile Island-II fuel and debris and the Fort St. Vrain fuel storage facility in Colorado.
“We look forward to safely fulfilling our contractual commitments and the continued support of our stakeholders and elected officials,” said IEC President Ty Blackford.
By Erik Simpson, IEC Communications