The Energy Department is seeking Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval for a one-time shipment of 2.5 kilograms of spent nuclear fuel material from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee to the Idaho National Laboratory for research purposes.
The nuclear regulator said June 26 it had received DOE’s application for approval of a shipment route and hoped to finish its review within 45 days.
The project would involve using INL research facilities, including the Advanced Test Reactor, to study high-burnup fuel performance to support the nuclear power industry, an Energy Department spokesperson in Idaho said in a Wednesday email.
The current timeline would have the Idaho National Laboratory receive 2.5 kilograms of heavy metal spent nuclear fuel in 2019 and then perform the research, the spokesperson said.
The 1995 settlement agreement between Idaho, the Energy Department, and the U.S. Navy stipulates any out-of-state nuclear waste must leave Idaho within 12 months of arrival. The state was concerned about the amount of waste, from the retired Rocky Flats weapons plant in Colorado and other sites, which has been stored at INL for decades.
Under the same agreement, Idaho has been fining DOE daily because it has yet to start treating liquid waste at the long-delayed Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU). The state has prohibited DOE from sending any more spent fuel to INL until IWTU is functional.
The facility was mostly finished in 2012 but did not operated as planned. The Energy Department has said it’s getting closer to operating IWTU, which is meant to finish treating 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing radioactive waste.
“The material will not be received at INL until the issues surrounding the current prohibitions on spent fuel receipts with the state of Idaho are resolved,” the spokesperson said.
Idaho officials could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
