The $1.4-billion Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, which started up radiological operations last week at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, has turned out seven canisters of “treated, blended” waste so far, the agency said Wednesday.

Currently, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) is processing a blend of 90% simulant and 10% sodium-bearing radioactive waste at a feed rate of 1.6 gallons per minute, the agency said in a press release.

The canisters have been placed into interim storage vaults in the IWTU product storage building, DOE said. The DOE and Jacobs-led contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition expect to continue running the 90/10 mix for 45 days, roughly late May, before moving to a 50/50 blend before eventually reaching 100% sodium-bearing waste.

Construction of the steam reforming plant, to convert 900,000 gallons of radioactive liquid waste to sand-like granular solid started in 2007, and was concluded in 2012 by a CH2M-led contractor. Unfortunately, the facility never worked as designed. The plant underwent a major re-engineering and overhaul over the following decade by first Fluor Idaho and later the Jacobs-led team.   

From 2012 to 2023, IWTU underwent a major overhaul. Testing with non-radioactive simulated waste, or simulant, began under contractor Fluor Idaho and then, starting in early 2022, the Jacobs-led Idaho Environmental Coalition.

During this protracted delay, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality assessed DOE millions of dollars’ worth of financial penalties.