IDAHO NATIONAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY

Date Established: 1949

Present Mission:

Primary - Research and development related to environmental technology and waste management.

Secondary - Decontamination and decommissioning (D&D); cleanup of radiological and hazardous waste.

Size: 571,000 acres (893 square miles). INEL also occupies numerous buildings and laboratories located in Idaho Falls.

Employees: 5,710 employees.

Annual Budget: Budget for fiscal year 1997 is $778 million.

Cognizant Secretarial Officer: Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM); principal offices - EM-351 and EM-441; Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) also has interests on site.

Responsible Operations/Area Office: Department of Energy (DOE), Idaho Operations Office (ID).

Integrating Contractor: Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company (LMITCO)

LMITCO Team Members: Babcock & Wilcox Idaho; Coleman Research; Duke Engineering and Services; Rust Federal Services; Parsons Environmental Services; Thermo Technology Ventures.

Fissile Material: There is 0.5 metric ton of plutonium and 1,106 kg of plutonium waste (as of February 6, 1996).

The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) is located in a rural, sparsely populated sector of southeastern Idaho. The eastern boundary of INEL is 23 miles west of Idaho Falls, and the site covers 571,000 acres (893 square miles). INEL also occupies numerous buildings and laboratories located in Idaho Falls.

INEL was established in 1949 as the National Reactor Testing Station. It contains the largest concentration of nuclear reactors in the world, including the first reactor to produce usable amounts of electricity. Most of the reactors were phased out after completing their research mission; only the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) and the Advanced Test Reactor Critical Facility Reactor (ATRC) are operating.

INEL is a multipurpose, multiprogram laboratory mostly focused on applied engineering. Programmatic activities include environmental restoration, waste management, environmental management, research and development, spent fuels storage and management, nuclear energy programs, naval reactor programs at the ATR and ICPP, infrastructure and landlord management programs, work for others, fossil energy programs, Office of Non-proliferation and National Security activities, and safeguards and security activities.

INEL conducts a variety of advanced scientific research and development projects in support of the Department of Energy (DOE) and other government agencies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Air Force. Specific research and development areas include lasers, organic and inorganic chemistry, biotechnology, genetics, geoscience, material science, physics, and environmental science.

Major operations at INEL include fuel receipt and monitoring at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) fuel processing areas and transfer of spent fuels from the CPP-603 basins and Test Area North (TAN) to the CPP-666 fuel storage areas. At the Test Reactor Area (TRA), two shutdown Category A reactors are defueled and are planned for decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) and two recently shutdown Category B test reactors are planned for defueling and ultimate D&D.

Some INEL facilities are now used in research and development for waste storage and remediation. A large number of facilities are in standby or decommissioning mode. The significant quantities of radioactive materials, chemicals, and high-level and mixed waste located at INEL collectively form the site's principal vulnerability.

The management of INEL, with the exception of Argonne National Laboratory-West (ANL-W) and the Nuclear Reactor Facility (NRF), is contracted to Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company (LMITCO). The DOE Idaho Operations Office (ID) is responsible for this contract.

The LMITCO contract was awarded on October 1, 1994, and runs through October 1999. The LMITCO contract contains all eleven elements of contract reform and has a strong output orientation, with increased accountability, liability, and potential reward for the contractor. The contract transitions from an award fee to a performance-based incentive fee over the five years. The con- solidation of previous site contractors to one organization has resulted in a steady reduction in the number of employees. In 1994, when LMITCO took over operations, they had approximately 7,530 employees. As of October 1996, there were 5,710 employees.

The total projected site operating budget for fiscal year 1997 is $778 million, and $780 million for fiscal year 1998.

KEY FACILITIES

Idaho Chemical Processing Plant Spent Fuel Storage Area - (FSA) 603/651/666/749

This operational area is comprised of various buildings that provide both wet and dry storage of irradiated and unirradiated nuclear fuels. The primary FSA facilities include CPP-603 and CPP-666, both of which provide underwater fuel storage primarily for spent Navy fuels.

The CPP-603 includes the collocated Irradiated Fuel Storage Facility (formerly called the Graphite Fuel Storage Facility), which provides above-ground dry fuel storage for graphite-type fuels, ROVER, Fort St. Vrain, Peach Bottom, and TREAT fuels. The Underground Fuel Storage Facility (CPP-749) provides storage for Fermi I and Peach Bottom fuels.

Movement of nuclear fuels from wet storage at CPP-603 to wet storage at CPP-666 is under way. These fuels consist primarily of expended Navy fuels, but also contain a wide variety of expended fuels from foreign and domestic research reactors that are clad with aluminum, stainless steel, and zirconium. The CPP-603 basins do not meet current requirements for wet storage of nuclear fuel; they are unlined, lack leak detection systems, and have known seismic construction deficiencies. Additionally, some fuels will require canning before being moved because of the current state of corrosion. The CPP-666 basins meet existing standards for wet storage of nuclear fuel.

CPP-651 is undergoing a systematic fuel storage review that has identified a series of administrative violations of technical specifications for fuel storage. The CPP-651 facility is not normally occupied.

Idaho Chemical Processing Plant - New Waste Calcining Facility (NWCF)

The NWCF is used to calcine liquid HLW held in underground storage tanks at the ICPP. Calcining results in an eight-to-one volume reduction, thereby producing a safe temporary storage form for the material. The facility is currently in maintenance shutdown for installation of an HLW evaporator. NWCF is expected to restart operations in 1997.

Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) - (except FSA and NWCF)

The rest of the facilities at ICPP consist of chemical processing, infrastructure support (such as utilities and laboratories), and research and development facilities. There are numerous D&D activities throughout the site. The major D&D project, currently, is the ROVER facility. Several of the research projects focus on HLW disposal, robotics, and spent fuel stabilization.

Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) - Waste Storage Facilities, Pit 9 Demonstration Project, Burial Grounds

The RWMC receives low-level waste for disposal: receives special case waste, greater than Class "C", and a limited amount of transuranic (TRU)/mixed TRU waste for storage in vaults and enclosed storage buildings; and stores mixed low-level waste and mixed TRU waste on retrievable storage pads and in enclosed storage buildings. Burial ground operations commenced in the early 1950s; the oldest permanent building at the RWMC was constructed in 1974. There are also several waste remediation projects on site. Construction of the Waste Storage Facility (WSF) was completed in April 1996. The WSF consists of eight pre-engineered metal buildings for receipt of certified waste from the C&S Waste Storage Building. The WSF Project also included an upgrade to the Drum Venting Facility that was completed in May 1996. Construction is ongoing at the Pit 9 transuranic waste burial ground remediation project. This activity has been privatized as a pilot government environmental remediation project.

Test Reactor Area - Advanced Test Reactor (ATR)

The principal mission of ATR is the irradiation of reactor fuels and materials. This is performed almost exclusively for the naval reactors program. The reactor is also used to produce small quantities of cobalt-60 and iridium-192, which are processed in anadjacent hot cell. The ATR is one of the national sources of iridium-192 for industrial radiography. The ATR and associated ATR critical facility are expected to remain operational well into the twenty-first century. The reactor is capable of supporting multiple experiments in five of the original nine reactor experiment test loops. This allows variations in reactor coolant parameters such as chemistry, temperature, and pressure.

Test Reactor Area (TRA)

The TRA includes the Engineering Test Reactor (ETR), Material Test Reactor (MTR), Coupled Fast Reactivity Measurement Facility (CFRMF), Advanced Reactivity Measurement Facility (ARMF), and Nuclear Material and Inspection Storage (NMIS). The ETR and MTR ceased operations several years ago. Currently, the MTR canal and TRA-603 are used to store spent fuel from various reactor experiments sitewide. A principal concern at TRA-603 is the lack of a leak detection system. The CFRMF and ARMF have been in shutdown mode for a long period of time. The ETR and MTR ceased operation several years ago and are defueled and awaiting D&D. The ARMF and CFRMF are still awaiting defueling after which they will be scheduled for D&D. Defueling is planned for fiscal years 1996 and 1997. The NMIS consolidates storage of strategic quantities of special nuclear material.

Test Area North (TAN)

The TAN has three active operations areas: Containment Test Facility (CTF), Technical Support Facility (TSF), and the Water Reactor Research Test Facility (WRRTF). The initial program at the CTF, involving nuclear reactor loss of coolant, loss of fluid testing (LOFT) experiments, was completed in 1986. The facility is now shut down and being readied for D&D. The Special Manufacturing Capability (SMC) program is currently located immediately adjacent to the LOFT facility. The structures that supported the CTF are maintained in standby condition. The TSF serves as the main administration and maintenance area for TAN. Current programs include storage of Three-Mile Island core debris, monitoring of spent fuel in dry storage casks, and SMC warehouse and R&D activities. The WRRTF houses the Separate Effect Test Facility, the sodium potassium deactivation project, and a project to test explosives detection systems.

Test Area North - Special Manufacturing Capability (SMC)

The SMC is an operational facility that develops and manufactures armor for the Department of Army M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank. The process entails converting depleted uranium billets into a finished armor package using molten salt baths, rolling and cleaning operations, and configuration of materials utilizing standard machine shop equipment such as lathes, mills, punches, shears, and lasers.

INEL Research Center (IRC) - Analytical and Engineering Development Laboratory

This laboratory consists of numerous laboratories spread between the site and Idaho Falls. The main facility, IRC (IF603), is a DOE-owned facility located on 35 acres of DOE property in Idaho Falls. The IRC, established in 1984, is composed of 66 individual laboratories. Five other leased facilities in Idaho Falls, which contain laboratories, are located in populated areas without significant buffer zones. Activities at the IRC include a variety of advanced scientific research and development projects.

Central Facilities Area (CFA)

The CFA consists of numerous nuclear and nonnuclear buildings that support engineering, maintenance, laboratory, storage, service, transportation, research and development, calibration, and administrative functions for landlord and program activities. Construction of these buildings began in the early 1950s and continued through the 1990s. The nuclear facilities portion consists primarily of a health physics instrument laboratory, Building CF-633, which provides radiation instrument calibration support. Building CF-685 is the INEL bus depot and maintenance shop. The site central warehouse is building CF-601. Buildings CF-637 and CF-629 are the INEL CFA waste storage facilities. A firing range for security personnel is located adjacent to the CFA and construction of a replacement site bus maintenance shop was recently completed.

Power Burst Facility (PBF)

The PBF was established to test reactor fuels under abnormal conditions. The facility is in operational shutdown. The reactor fuel is currently stored in the PBF canal.

Waste Experimental Reduction Facility (WERF)

Originally constructed in 1959 as the Special Power Excursion Reactor Test (SPERT) III Reactor, this facility was decontaminated and decommissioned with construction of WERF in 1982. Incineration operations, (waste treatment), began in 1984. It has two support buildings: the Sizing and Compaction Building (PER-622) and the WERF Waste Storage Building (PER-623). Processes at this facility include low-level waste (LLW), and mixed LLW incineration; LLW sizing and compaction; waste stabilization; receipt of incinerable, sizable and compactable LLW; and shipping of LLW offsite for incineration at Scientific Ecology Group in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. All WERF processes, except for receiving LLW, were shut down for three years for resolution/ approval of National Environmental Protection Act documentation. Incinerator operation has recommenced. The receipt, storage, sizing, and compaction of LLW recommenced in late 1994. The WERF incinerator facility (PER-609) has completed several successful campaigns commencing in 1985 when the first RCRA trial burn was conducted.