Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
10/30/2015
The Department of Energy last week canceled the first of two planned shipments of research commercial spent nuclear fuel to the Idaho National Laboratory. Controversy erupted earlier this year when DOE sought a waiver that would allow research quantities of spent nuclear fuel into Idaho, but state officials would only allow it if cleanup milestones at Idaho National Laboratory were met. The fuel shipments would be necessary to support the department’s high-burnup fuel study, conducted by the Electric Power Research Institute, but delays from the state caused DOE to decide to send the material to another unidentified location.
“I’m disappointed that a shipment of spent fuel rods is being taken to a facility other than the Idaho National Laboratory,” Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said in a statement. “There is no doubt in my mind that INL is the appropriate place for this important research. But even more disappointing is the Department of Energy’s decision not to participate in direct and meaningful negotiations that could have led to a resolution that served the interests of all parties.”
According to correspondence between DOE and Wasden, dated Oct. 13 but released this week by the attorney general, DOE was willing to move twice the amount of heavy metal waste from the state as it would be bringing in through the research shipments. The state, though, wanted more stipulations applied to the waiver that would address some of the problems with the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit. DOE has faced challenges getting the facility at the Idaho Site, intended to process the remaining liquid waste, up and running. The department has committed to begin processing waste at the facility by fall 2016; while some believed it could happen this fall, that does not look likely to occur.
The state stipulations included: asking “DOE to cure its breach relating to the Sodium Bearing High Level Waste, by making decisions regarding the IWTU, selecting a new alternative, if necessary, and committing to implement that technology in a time certain”; asking “DOE to continue work that is required to treat the Calcine so that it is likewise completed in a time certain” as delays associated with the IWTU have affected this work; and finally, asking DOE “to cure its breach relating to Transuranic Waste shipments by pursuing options it may have (such as shipment to Texas) and if that cannot occur, then prioritizing Idaho’s waste for shipment to [the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant] once it reopens.”
DOE called those requirements “unrealistic” for a small amount of commercial spent fuel. “While the Department shares your commitment to the cleanup of the INL and to the resolution of the current issue regarding IWTU and transuranic waste, it is not realistic for us to establish the additional conditions you propose in exchange for allowing small amount of spent fuel for research at INL,” DOE General Counsel Steven Croley said in a written response to Wasden.
The department plans to continue to work with Idaho to see if the second batch of commercial fuel can go to INL for research. “Unfortunately, we were unable to reach an understanding in time to accommodate the necessary transportation planning for the first proposed shipment. The department continues to strongly support the role of INL in nuclear energy research, and in particular, with its strong core competencies in the field of nuclear fuel development,” a DOE spokesman said this week. “The department will continue to work with the State of Idaho to find a path forward for the second proposed shipment of spent fuel for research at INL.”
