In addition to characterizing, treating, certifying, and shipping contact-handled transuranic waste at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex, IEC treats and repackages remote-handled, sodium-contaminated transuranic waste inside two hot cells at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC). INTEC was established in the 1950s as the Chemical Processing Plant (CPP) to recover usable uranium in spent nuclear fuel used in government reactors. The facility recovered more than $1 billion worth of highly enriched uranium, which was returned to the government fuel cycle.
In 1992, the Department of Energy announced that the changing world political situation and the lack of demand for highly enriched uranium made reprocessing no longer necessary. In 1998, the plant was renamed INTEC.
Today, the workers at INTEC have turned their focus to cleanup and protection of the Snake River Plain Aquifer. Planned and/or ongoing major cleanup activities include the management of spent nuclear fuel at dry storage facilities, treatment of high-level and liquid radioactive waste, characterization, repackaging, and shipment of remote handled transuranic waste, and closure of liquid waste tanks.
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