The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is looking at using a major facility at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory for treatment of some of NNSA’s future waste streams, according to a safety board report.
On Feb. 17, NNSA and members of the Amentum-led environmental cleanup contractor for Idaho National Laboratory met “to discuss logistics needed to maintain AMWTP [the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project] systems … [and] facilitate additional treatment of waste from other DOE sites.” That is according to a recent staff report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities’ Safety Board (DNFSB).
Management of the DOE contractor, the Idaho Environmental Coalition, talked about what upgrades might be needed to AMWTP, such as improvements to the ventilation systems as well as personnel radiation protection controls, according to the safety board report.
The contractor plans to put together a presentation on supporting offsite waste treatment project plans, according to the report.
AMWTP has equipment to prepare and ship contact-handled, defense-related transuranic waste from Idaho to the DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M. The signature piece of equipment is a super-compactor capable of condensing a 55-gallon waste drum down to the size of a hockey puck.
While the DNFSB report did not specify what type of future waste streams could be handled, DOE said last week in a press release that the AMWTP was used recently to take apart a glovebox from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The glove box components were then packaged into 100-gallon drums for shipment to WIPP.
A glovebox is a stainless steel enclosure equipped with glove ports and windows that allow crew members to handle radioactive and chemical material while staying protected from hazards, according to the news release. The glovebox was shipped to Idaho National Laboratory last fall.
“This project demonstrates ICP [Idaho Cleanup Project]’s critical role in addressing complex waste streams and advancing the Department of Energy’s (DOE) cleanup mission while adhering to our commitments to the state of Idaho,” ICP Manager Nicholas Balsmeier said.
In late 2018, DOE decided to end AMWTP operations when all waste stored in Idaho has been treated, according to DOE. Once this occurs, the facility will be decommissioned and dismantled under terms contained in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. AMWTP is expected to continue shipping transuranic waste to WIPP from its current inventory until around 2028, according to DOE.