Two federal agencies and the state of Idaho signed off on expansion of a low-level radioactive waste landfill at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), DOE and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality have agreed to expand the existing on-site Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act waste disposal facility.
That’s according to a recent press release from the DOE cleanup contractor, the Jacobs-led Idaho Environmental Coalition.
The current disposal cell, opened in 2003 in the south-central area of the 890-square mile Idaho National Laboratory site, has a capacity of about 390,000 cubic meters and is about 80% full, according to the press release. Without increasing the capacity, the current disposal cell would reach capacity in 2025.
“Expanding this [Environmental Management] asset is crucial to maintaining our excellent cleanup program track record,” said Dan Coyne, senior director of waste and decontamination/demolition for Jacobs-led cleanup contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition, in a Tuesday statement from the DOE Office of Environmental Management.
Additional waste disposal capacity is needed for additional wastes generated by future decommissioning and demolition projects at Idaho National Laboratory, Pete Johansen, a supervisor with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, said in a Wednesday email.
A provision in a recent record of decision authorized the increase of the existing cell by 140,000 cubic meters. The decision also authorized construction of a new disposal cell of 530,000 cubic meters for a total capacity of more than 1 million cubic meters for the expanded landfill. The expanded facility should start receiving waste in 2026 and have an operational life of at least 25 years, according to the Nov. 9 release.
Like the existing facility only existing on-site waste can be disposed of in the new area.
