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.
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.