Weapons Complex Monitor Vol. 27 No. 45
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Weapons Complex Monitor
Article 8 of 12
November 18, 2016

Redesigned IWTU Component Slated for Tests; Still no Timetable on Startup

By ExchangeMonitor

A redesigned version of the large screw-like component designed to break up chunks of solid waste in the troubled Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) in Idaho will undergo testing from November to January, the Energy Department announced Thursday.

The so-called augur-grinder breaks up solid waste for processing in the IWTU, which was built by former Idaho Site contractor CH2M-WG Idaho in 2012 to treat 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing liquid waste left over from Cold War-era nuclear fuel reprocessing.

IWTU, which uses a liquid-waste treatment method known as steam reforming that is not commonly deployed in the DOE nuclear complex, was supposed to come online on Sept. 30. It did not, and the agency has not yet shared a timeline for turning on the system. Although substantially complete, IWTU has been inactive following technical troubles, including with the augur, discovered in test runs conducted years ago.

Now, DOE and new Idaho cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho LLC believe they have a fix. This involves redesigning and replacing some augur-grinding components, rather than replacing the entire augur-grinder assembly, the department said in the press release.

In late October, DOE said it will also need to replace IWTU’s ring header. The agency has a spare on site, which it believes will take about three months to install.

With IWTU inactive, the state of Idaho has been fining DOE $3,600 daily. Daily fines at that level will continue until March 30, after which the penalty could increase to $6,000 a day.

Fluor Idaho took over IWTU this year from CH2M-WG Idaho under a five-year DOE Idaho Cleanup Project Core and Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project worth nearly $1.5 billion.

The 53,000-square-foot IWTU is expected to cost more than $570 million.

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NEW: Via public records request, I’ve been able to confirm reporting today that a warrant has been issued for DOE deputy asst. secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition Sam Brinton for another luggage theft, this time at Las Vegas’s Harry Reid airport. (cc: @EMPublications)

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