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U.S. NEWS Friday 8 November 2019

Idaho, Energy Department sign deal on spent nuclear fuel

By KEITH RIDLER al dollars. "The agreement
Associated Press we executed this week en-
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Ida- sures those successes will
ho granted a conditional continue and that the INL
waiver Thursday to the U.S. will continue to lead the
Department of Energy that nation and world in energy
could allow research quan- research and innovation,"
tities of spent nuclear fuel Little said.
into the state after years of The Energy Department first
blocking such shipments. asked Idaho for a waiver in
The agreement announced 2014. But Wasden refused
by Gov. Brad Little and At- to sign on, noting the 1995
torney General Lawrence agreement was the only
Wasden, both Republicans, enforcement tool Idaho
means the Idaho National had to get the Energy De-
Laboratory could receive partment to remove the ra-
about 100 pounds (45 kilo- dioactive liquid waste. The
grams) of spent fuel for ex- conditional waiver met his
periments as part of a U.S. requirements.
strategy to expand nuclear "As those who have been
power and reduce green- familiar with my stance on
house gas emissions. this issue over the years
The waiver requires the know, nothing is more im-
Energy Department to portant than treating that
first prove it can process liquid waste and protecting
900,000 gallons (3.5 million our precious aquifer," Was-
liters) of high-level radio- In this May 11, 2015, file photo, nuclear waste is stored in underground containers at the Idaho den said in a statement.
active liquid waste that sits National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho. Andrus, the former gov-
above a giant Idaho aqui- Associated Press ernor who died in 2017,
fer that supplies water to ment Agreement reached and meet additional pro- is work clothing, rags, ma- frequently said that if the
farms and cities. by former Democratic Gov. cessing goals before being chine parts and tools that liquid waste tanks ever
The Energy Department Cecil Andrus and Republi- allowed to bring in more re- have been contaminated leaked and contaminated
has spent some $600 mil- can Gov. Phil Batt. search quantities of spent with plutonium and other the aquifer, Idaho's potato
lion trying to do that, so far They engaged in a series of fuel. The first 100 pounds radioactive elements business would be dev-
having failed but reporting federal court battles with (45 kilograms) of spent fuel The Energy Department astated. Idaho supplies
good progress earlier this the Energy Department would come from the Byron has also agreed to remove about a third of the nation's
year at its Integrated Waste resulting in the 1995 Settle- Nuclear Generating Station an additional 300 pounds potatoes, much of the crop
Treatment Unit. ment Agreement during in Illinois. (136 kilograms) of uranium, grown with water pumped
The deal announced Thurs- Batt's term that is generally Idaho had been banning plutonium or enriched ura- from the aquifer.
day makes it easier for seen as preventing Idaho spent fuel shipments be- nium from Idaho by the The Idaho National Labora-
the Energy Department to from becoming a high-lev- cause the Energy Depart- end of 2021. tory is the Energy Depart-
bring spent fuel for research el nuclear waste dump. ment missed a 2013 dead- In addition, the Energy ment's lead laboratory for
into the state but benefits The Energy Department line to treat all the liquid Department has commit- nuclear research and is
Idaho by requiring earlier benefits in the most recent waste. ted to a specified sched- involved in national secu-
removal of other nuclear deal because instead of The Energy Department ule to treat spent nuclear rity concerns regarding nu-
waste at the 890-square- having to process all the has agreed to make sure fuel from the Experimental clear waste reduction and
mile (2,305-square-kilome- radioactive liquid waste that at least 55% of all Breeder Reactor II at the non-proliferation. It's direc-
ter) site west of the city of before it can bring in re- transuranic waste shipped Idaho National Laboratory. tor, Mark Peters, told law-
Idaho Falls that includes search quantities of spent to the Waste Isolation Pilot The Idaho National Labo- makers earlier this year that
the Idaho National Labora- fuel, as required in the 1995 Plant in New Mexico comes ratory is a huge economic the biggest threat to the
tory. Specifically, the 2019 agreement, it now under from Idaho. That facility has driver in the state, with lab's research status was
Supplemental Agreement the conditional waiver only experienced waste ship- some 4,400 workers. Spent Idaho's ban on bringing in
grants a conditional waiver has to prove it can process ment bottlenecks in recent fuel research could bring small quantities of spent
to the historic 1995 Settle- some of the liquid waste years. Transuranic waste millions of additional feder- nuclear fuel for research.q