Idaho National Laboratory

After working out various kinks since late December, the Department of Energy has resumed its demonstration run of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory, a spokesperson said Wednesday. Following a successful heat-up, waste simulant processing resumed on May 23, a DOE spokesperson said in an email. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety […]

The on-again, off-again demonstration run of the Department of Energy’s Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory should be on again in June, according to a federal nuclear-safety overseer. After an outage during March and April, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) was to begin heating up in early May, according to a […]

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch could greenlight hot commissioning of vitrification of low-activity tank waste in August 2023 at the Hanford Site in Washington state, and continues to mull the cost of a critical ventilation project at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. Those are among highlights from the Joe Biden […]

The Department of Energy’s fiscal 2023 budget request for nuclear cleanup at the Idaho National Laboratory includes $10 million toward early planning for  treatment and disposal of 1.2 million gallons of high-level radioactive calcine waste. Under the 1995 Idaho Settlement Agreement governing disposal of spent fuel, DOE has until Dec. 31, 2035 to treat the […]

The Department of Energy’s fiscal 2023 budget request for nuclear cleanup at the Idaho National Laboratory includes $10 million toward early planning for  treatment and disposal of 1.2 million gallons of high-level radioactive calcine waste. Under the 1995 Idaho Settlement Agreement governing disposal of spent fuel, DOE has until Dec. 31, 2035 to treat the […]

Earnings rose at Jacobs, Dallas, in the second quarter of its fiscal 2022 year, which the international engineering and construction company attributed to increased demand across virtually all business lines. Net earnings for the quarter ended April 1 were $89 million, or $0.68 a share, up from net earnings of zero in the year-ago quarter, […]

Earnings rose at Jacobs, Dallas, in the second quarter of its fiscal 2022 year, which the international engineering and construction company attributed to increased demand across virtually all business lines. Net earnings for the quarter ended April 1 were $89 million, or $0.68 a share, up from net earnings of zero in the year-ago quarter, […]

While the Department of Energy is still gunning for a fall start of radiological operations, agency officials acknowledged this week they are not sure how long a final test run might take for the  Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory. When asked by a Citizens Advisory Board member for the Idaho Cleanup […]

The Department of Energy’s tardiness in providing its entire detailed justification for its fiscal 2023, as well as cleanup challenges at the Hanford Site in Washington state, were among the issues House lawmakers raised with Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm Thursday in a two-plus-hour budget hearing. DOE had by Thursday published most of its detailed […]

The Joe Biden administration’s $7.6-billion budget request for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup office should help the agency begin conversion of low-activity radioactive tank waste into glass at the Hanford Site in Washington state, and other key remediation chores, William (Ike) White told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee Wednesday. The DOE Office of Environmental […]

Due to the “fits-and-starts” so far with demonstration of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, the Department of Energy plans to restart the facility’s final test run, which the agency now expects to last beyond the previously scheduled 50 days, officials at Idaho National Laboratory said Tuesday. “There really is no such thing as a 50-day […]

The Jacobs-led cleanup contractor the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has lifted a self-imposed “stand down” order at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project, an agency spokesperson said Tuesday. The contractor, Idaho Environmental Coalition, lifted the order March 31, the DOE spokesperson said in a Tuesday email. The spokesperson was responding to a Weapons […]

A container of transuranic waste from the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico was put underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in March without a required flammable gas analysis, a federal safety group said. Analysis of the omitted screening for the Los Alamos container is nearly done, said a DOE […]

William (Ike) White, the top manager of the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch, expects excess contaminated facilities in the weapons complex to draw more attention in the next decade or so, he told a National Academies of Sciences board Wednesday. Within that span, it will be time for the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management […]

The Jacobs-led cleanup contractor the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory has lifted a self-imposed “stand down” order at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project, an agency spokesperson said Tuesday. The contractor, Idaho Environmental Coalition, lifted the order March 31, the DOE spokesperson said in a Tuesday email. The spokesperson was responding to a Weapons […]

A container of transuranic waste from the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico was put underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in March without a required flammable gas analysis, a federal safety group said. The mistake, discovered by the Central Characterization Program for DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) prime, […]

The Department of Energy has yet to resume its final test run of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory, the agency confirmed Thursday. “The IWTU remains shut down,” an Idaho Department of Environmental Quality official said by email Thursday. “They [DOE managers]have completed their investigation and are preparing to start warming […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received 18 shipments of transuranic waste during March, according to the latest available data. During the past month, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) took in 13 shipments from Idaho National Laboratory, four from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and one […]

The Department of Energy has yet to carry out needed fixes to allow the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit to resume its final test run at the Idaho National Laboratory, the agency confirmed Monday. A 50-day demonstration run of the long-anticipated Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) was suspended Feb. 26 after swings in operating temperatures and […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management logged 21 confirmed cases of COVID-19 during the past week, a decrease of 14 from the prior week’s total of 35, a spokesperson for the organization said Thursday by email. Two weeks ago the weekly confirmed number was 43, a fraction of the high of 775 for […]

PHOENIX —The Department of Energy was eyeing an “easy fix” for the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit in Idaho, knocked offline Feb. 26 during the final demo run preceding treatment of nearly 1 million gallons of liquid radioactive waste, an agency official said here Tuesday. The long-delayed Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) was processing a simulant, […]

The Department of Energy was eyeing an “easy fix” for the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit in Idaho, knocked offline Feb. 26 during the final demo run preceding treatment of nearly 1 million gallons of liquid radioactive waste, an agency official said here Tuesday. The long-delayed Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) was processing a simulant, non-radioactive […]

The Department of Energy’s facility to treat sodium-bearing radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory was taken offline again after getting 17 days into a scheduled 50-day demonstration intended to clear the way for radioactive operations. The DOE and cleanup contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition decided to curtail operations of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) […]

Over the next 10 years, virtually all of the legacy transuranic waste at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory will be shipped to New Mexico for underground disposal and the lab’s Radioactive Waste Management Complex will be closed, the president of Jacobs-led Idaho Environmental Coalition, said Thursday. In addition, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit […]

Next Monday, Feb. 28, will mark a return-to-onsite work for most Department of Energy Idaho National Laboratory personnel, according to a recent staff report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, which said COVID-19 is still complicating work there. Meanwhile, as of the seven-day period ended Thursday, Feb. 24, there were only 82 confirmed active […]

After a warm up period, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory last week resumed a 50-day final trial run of the plant expected to treat about 900,000 gallons of liquid sodium-bearing waste, federal and state agencies confirmed Tuesday. Despite a brief hiccup in the latest practice run, the […]

After a warm up period, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory last week resumed a 50-day final trial run of the plant expected to treat about 900,000 gallons of liquid sodium-bearing waste, federal and state agencies confirmed Tuesday. On Feb. 17 operators of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit […]

Next Monday, Feb. 28, is the current target for a return-to-onsite work for most Department of Energy Idaho National Laboratory personnel, according to a recent staff report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, which said COVID-19 is still complicating work there. Another Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) memo said COVID is also still […]

The Department of Energy’s $7.6-billion cleanup office will soon move to tear down a land-based reactor in Idaho considered integral to development of the United States first nuclear-powered submarine in the 1950s. The DOE Office of Environmental Management said in a release Tuesday it assumed responsibility for deactivation and demolition of the Submarine 1st Generation […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico received eight shipments of defense-related transuranic waste during the month of January, according to the latest data on the public website for the disposal facility. During January the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) received four shipments each from the Idaho National Laboratory and an […]