With the promise of a reliable nitrogen supply apparently in hand, the Department of Energy is preparing to resume a final test run to demonstrate operations of a long-awaited plant to treat sodium-bearing radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory, according to a state official.
“Warm up” of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) began Monday morning, Kim Custer, senior hazardous waste permit writer with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, said via emails this week. The heat-up will probably take about 10 days, the state agency has said previously.
The nitrogen supplier “has committed to having a dedicated driver to deliver to the IWTU starting on the 7th,” Custer added.
Now that nitrogen shipments have resumed, it will take eight to 12 days to bring the facility to normal operating pressure and temperature, a DOE spokesperson said by email Thursday.
A 50-day demonstration run with simulant started in December for the long-delayed plant, which is designed to convert roughly 900,000 gallons of liquid sodium-bearing waste into a granular, solid form for disposal. After a rough start related to the unit’s plumbing, the demo run was suspended Jan. 6. DOE cited an inconsistent supply of nitrogen. Nitrogen is central to numerous facets of operations at the plant and its steam-reforming technology, the agency has said.
DOE and its contractor, Idaho Environmental Coalition, have worked with the nitrogen vendor to obtain additional drivers to ensure timely deliveries of nitrogen to the Idaho National Laboratory site to support IWTU needs, the DOE spokesperson said. Nitrogen is required for most IWTU operations and must be supplied almost daily to the facility while operating. The plant had converted more than 19,000 gallons of simulant into a granular solid before the demo run was suspended Jan. 6.
The Idaho Environmental Coalition, a joint venture of Jacobs and North Wind along with several small businesses, is now the third environmental contractor to assume responsibility for the IWTU.
CH2M-WG Idaho built the plant but during initial startup in June 2012, IWTU experienced a “system pressure event” leading to a shutdown, the DOE Office of Inspector General said in a May 2020 report.
The DOE did not always ensure adequate quality assurance practices by CH2M-WG Idaho and its predecessor, Fluor Idaho, as various changes were made to IWTU over the years to ensure proper operation. The Idaho Environmental Coalition took over from Fluor Idaho in January.
Citing delays associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the state in 2021 gave DOE until September of this year to produce the first canisters of granular waste at IWTU. The prior deadline was June 2021.
