Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Cleanup Progress Continues to Benefit Idaho National Laboratory
Two decades ago, one contract encompassing the work of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management (EM) and Nuclear Energy (NE) offices at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) was split into two, one for each office.
The idea behind the change was that one contract for EM would accelerate the legacy environmental cleanup mission to reduce DOE’s environmental liabilities and enhance the INL’s nuclear mission. Meanwhile, the NE contract would progress and expand the laboratory’s NE and Homeland Security missions.
In light of the EM-NE partnership and EM’s progress meeting cleanup milestones, the state of Idaho recently signed a waiver to the 1995 Idaho Settlement Agreement, a pact for the DOE, state of Idaho and U.S. Navy that outlines several waste management and cleanup milestones and limits the import of spent nuclear fuel to the state. The waiver enables the INL to receive a research cask containing spent nuclear fuel from the North Anna Generating Station in Louisa County, Virginia. NE’s research will provide data for the licensing of extended storage at spent nuclear fuel facilities.
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