INL construction project nearing completion

Every so often I feel the need to report on what is happening with your tax dollars at the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls. The continuing effort is involved with cleaning up this highly contaminated area.

This means the removal of thousands of drums and boxes of nuclear waste left there following the Cold War. It also included the removal of gallons of nuclear waste in the form of radioactive sludge from the bottoms of steel storage tanks.

At other sites like Hanford this is a gigantic cleanup effort. In Idaho, this involves some 900 gallons of dodium containing wastes, currently stored in underground tanks. This waste is referred to as sodium bering waste. This material is scheduled for removal from the state by December 2012. This is in accordance with the legal agreement between the Department of Energy and the state of Idaho.

In order to make this happen the DOE has constructed a new processing facility at INL. This process utilizes steam reforming technology which converts acidic radioactive liquid particles into a solid carbonate waste product. At the present time this plant is 82 per cent complete and following an 8-12 month start testing and start up period, will be ready for production by August 2011.

When ready to run, this plant will have cost the government some $571 million. Once accomplished, this plant may well be used to eliminate other forms of waste presently stored at INL. DOE is studying this possibility now.

The plant itself is an engineering masterpiece. The acidic nature of the waste to be treated in this plant requires special steels to be used in all piping. This presented special welding problems.

Miles of  computer lines were needed to provide the necessary controls and the fact that the plant will operate at temperatures of more than 950 degrees Centigrade has added to the engineering complications faced by the program developers.

Heat is supplied by coal and coke, and the product, similar to kitty liter, will be shipped out by special truck. This product is scheduled for disposal in the New Mexico salt mines.

This project appears to be one of the few government projects that has a high expectancy for success and has been extremely well engineered and managed.

BRUCE WENDLE

Sandpoint