Half of the 1,800-person workforce for the Idaho National Laboratory’s cleanup contractor was still working as of last week, according to the Department of Energy.
Of those 900 Fluor Idaho employees, half were physically on-site and the others teleworking, a DOE spokesperson said by email. The spokesperson did not say if those who cannot telework are receiving paid leave.
As with nearly all of the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup sites, the Idaho complex on March 26 shifted to “essential mission critical operations.” That was before a March 31 earthquake that was felt at the laboratory but caused no damage.
Ongoing core tasks include work to begin operating the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU), the long-anticipated facility to convert sodium-bearing waste into a more stable form for eventual disposal. The IWTU was supposed to start operating in 2012, but it never worked as designed. Fluor Idaho has modified the IWTU in recent years and, encouraged by test runs in 2019, anticipates opening the $1 billion facility by the end of the year.
Fluor Idaho workers are also preparing containers of transuranic waste for transport to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, albeit at a lower rate than before the COVID-19 crisis, the spokesperson said.
In addition, the contractor is processing remaining waste from the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Plant (AMWTP), which has finished most of its shipments to WIPP.
The Idaho National Laboratory reduced the number of staff reporting to work March 26 following a stay-home order by the governor due to the pandemic. All INL employees returning from any out-of-state travel, or travel to an Idaho county with a “confirmed spread” of the disease were instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days.
There are currently no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Idaho National Laboratory.
Fluor Idaho’s $2 billion, five-year environmental remediation contract expires in May 2021. The Energy Department is considering a potential 15-year, $6.4 billion remediation award, which would succeed the Fluor Idaho contract and Spectra Tech’s roughly five-year, $45 million award for spent fuel management at INL and Fort St. Vrain in Colorado.
The Energy Department hopes to issue a final request for proposals for the new Idaho cleanup contract in May, but has cautioned that procurements could be delayed by the ongoing national emergency.
