Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden will not sign off on the Department of Energy sending more spent nuclear fuel to the Idaho National Laboratory for research until DOE begins processing the liquid waste as outlined under the 1995 Settlement Agreement, a Wasden spokesman said yesterday. Controversy erupted earlier this year when DOE sought a waiver that would allow research quantities of spent nuclear fuel into Idaho, but Idaho officials would only allow it if cleanup milestones at Idaho National Laboratory were met. “The Attorney General will not approve or signoff on any shipments of spent nuclear fuels rods into the state to be delivered at Idaho National Laboratory until such times that the Department of Energy has begun processing a sodium-bearing high-level nuclear waste, the liquid waste, that is being stored at the Laboratory,” Attorney General spokesman Todd Dvorak said.
DOE has faced challenges getting Idaho’s Integrated Waste Treatment Unit and up and running by, and currently is anticipating a startup by the end of 2016. That time frameould affect DOE’s planned research shipments. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) has said he is open to providing DOE a one-time waiver to allow the Department to send the spent fuel to INL for research purposes, but only if the Department provides an enforceable time frame for coming back into compliance with a 1995 Settlement Agreement.
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