The Department of Energy and a handful of its contractors are gearing up to receive a high burnup research cask shipment at the Idaho National Laboratory in the coming year.
The high burnup research cask will be shipped out of Dominion Energy’s North Anna Power Station in Mineral, Va. DOE said last June it will conduct a dry run in spring 2027 and the actual cask shipment is expected that fall.
According to a recent announcement from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, DOE and the Amentum-led contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition, INL was picked to receive the shipment “because of its specialized facilities, equipment and a workforce experienced with safely handling used nuclear fuel, capabilities generally unavailable at commercial nuclear power plants.”
The shipment of the high burnup fuel cask is also part of a larger effort by DOE in its compliance with the 1995 Idaho Settlement Agreement, which was modified in 2019. The agreement, made between the DOE, the state of Idaho and the United States Navy, sets timelines to remove certain types of transuranic waste from Idaho, prohibit permanent storage of waste at INL and treat and remove other types of high-level waste from Idaho.
In a separate letter to DOE, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) commended DOE for its updates pertaining to the high burnup cask shipment and transportation. DOE officials and NWTRB officials discussed these updates in an Aug. 13 meeting, a NWTRB spokesperson told Exchange Monitor Monday.
“The Board was encouraged by DOE’s progress with the high burnup research cask shipment,” Peter Swift, NWTRB chair, said in the Aug. 21 letter addressed to Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Ted Garrish. “The planned shipment provides DOE with practical experience in transportation planning, equipment development, rail and site readiness, emergency preparedness, and coordination with Tribal, state, and federal partners.”
The high-burnup cask will be received at INL’s Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) in 2027.
DOE’ Environmental Management and the Office of Nuclear Energy are in charge of preparing for the onsite transfer of the fuel for additional analysis. The cleanup contractor and the two DOE branches are working together on the high burnup research to study long-term waste storage methodologies and transportation.
The environmental contractor proposed reusing the rail infrastructure at the INTEC for the incoming cask, according to DOE.
