Project contractors and DOE-LM support partner staff install a well based on design strategy developed by support partner senior hydrogeologist Pete Schillig. (Photos: DOE-LM)
When the Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management recently faced an operational challenge at the Rifle Disposal Site in Colorado, it took subject matter experts across a wide array of disciplines to tackle it.
A public meeting is held by the East Tennessee Economic Council to discuss the Oak Ridge nuclear site. (Photo: ETEC)
When it comes to decision-making, public participation and community engagement are not the same thing. The structure and content of meetings to enable public participation in project decision-making can be staid, stale, and staged. The approach can be formulaic and reactionary: “We have a decision to make; we’ve narrowed down the alternatives … let’s prepare the scripts, posters, and presentations, gather our materials, book a room, coach the presenters on how to be succinct, identify people to staff the kiosks, contact the community members and regulatory staff we usually contact, and let’s have a public meeting! Once we get this over with, we can finally build our project, demolish that building, clean up this site, etc.” Not so fast.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management and cleanup contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition are leading efforts to deactivate and demolish three legacy Naval Reactors Program prototypes at the Naval Reactors Facility in Idaho. (Photos: DOE)
The Idaho National Laboratory Site has long played an essential part in American nuclear reactor research and development activities. It is also a cornerstone of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. The Naval Reactors Facility (NRF) on the INL Site, located in southeastern Idaho, was home to three historic land-based naval reactor prototypes—the Submarine 1st Generation Westinghouse (S1W) prototype, the Aircraft Carrier 1st Generation Westinghouse (A1W) prototype, and the Submarine 5th Generation General Electric (S5G) prototype—that facilitated critical training for naval personnel and testing that helped develop the U.S. Navy’s nuclear fleet.
A 3D rendering of the MPPB.
Areas of the building where demolition has been completed are rendered
in transparent yellow.
Starting in 1966, the Western New York Nuclear Service Center (WNYNSC)—comprising 3,300 acres of land in the town of Ashford, N.Y.—was used for the commercial reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. Reprocessing was conducted in the Main Plant Process Building (MPPB) until 1972 when commercial operations ceased and were never resumed. Now, 50 years later, modern 3D modeling technology is ensuring that the MPPB can be demolished in a safe and effective manner, minimizing risk to the environment and the workers.
The Magnox Trawsfynydd reactor in Wales. (Photos: UK NRS)
Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS), a subsidiary of the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), has adopted laser cutting as the primary technology for the removal of the reactor core of Dragon, a 20-MWt prototype high-temperature, helium-cooled, graphite-moderated reactor at Winfrith in Dorset, England. In addition, NRS is conducting trials to establish if laser cutting will be a viable technology for the decommissioning of the Trawsfynydd reactor, a first-generation Magnox reactor (CO2 cooled, graphite moderated) situated in the Snowdonia National Park in Wales.
Company and JAEA representatives celebrate the signing of the D&D contract. (Photo: Babcock International)
U.K.-based Cavendish Nuclear, a subsidiary of Babcock International, will work with Amentum on the next phase of work supporting the decommissioning of Japan’s Monju prototype fast reactor under a contract awarded by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency.
A Disa HPSA test unit used in a study in the Navajo Nation. (Photo: Disa Technologies)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a license application submitted by Disa Technologies to use high-pressure slurry ablation (HPSA) technology for remediating abandoned uranium mine waste at inactive mining sites.
A worker scans excavated soil at the DOE’s Oak Ridge site in this 2022 photo to ensure it contains no radioactive contaminants. (Photo: DOE)
Better information regarding the specific work needed to finish cleaning up contaminated soil and legacy landfills at Department of Energy nuclear sites could help the department better prioritize cleanup projects and improve budgeting decisions, according to an audit by the Government Accountability Office.
A prototype nuclear waste canister in the drillhole receptacle. (Photo: Deep Isolation)
Nuclear waste disposal technology company Deep Isolation Nuclear announced it has signed a technology licensing agreement with government contractor Navarro Research and Engineering, giving Navarro access to Deep Isolation’s portfolio of intellectual property for use in nuclear and hazardous waste management applications across the states of Tennessee and Idaho.
WM Symposia’s Greg Meyer (left) with Mikhail Chudakov from the IAEA. (Photo: WM Symposia)
WM Symposia, which hosts the annual Waste Management Conference in Phoenix, Ariz., announced it has signed a practical arrangement with the International Atomic Energy Agency aimed at strengthening international collaboration in the safe management of radioactive waste, decommissioning, and environmental remediation.
Amentum says nuclear growth in the U.K. will result in the hiring of 3,000 new workers over the next four. (Photo: Amentum)
Global engineering company Amentum announced plans on Thursday to create 3,000 new jobs over the next four years on the back of growth in nuclear power and defense in the United Kingdom.
The announcement follows President Donald Trump’s state visit to the U.K., during which a number of deals between the two countries were announced.
An instructor and participants during the first National Youth Forum on Geological Disposal forum. (Photo: NWS)
Sellafield Ltd.’s Euan Hutton (left) and TEPCO’s Akira Ono extend a cooperative agreement between the two companies. (Photo: TEPCO)
The U.K.’s Sellafield Ltd. and Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company have pledge to continue to work together for up to an additional 10 years, extending a cooperative agreement begun in 2014 following the 2011 tsunami that resulted in the irreparable damage of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi plant.
IAEA personnel check a sample of Fukushima’s ALPS-treated water. (Photo: TEPCO)
An International Atomic Energy Agency task force has confirmed that the discharge of treated water from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is proceeding in line with international safety standards. The task force’s findings were published in the agency’s fourth report since Tokyo Electric Power Company began discharging Fukushima’s treated and diluted water in August 2023.
More information can be found on the IAEA’s Fukushima Daiichi ALPS Treated Water Discharge web page.
Oklo’s proposed Advanced Fuel Center in Tennessee. (Image: Oklo)
Late last week saw two announcements from companies working to recycle used nuclear fuel on a commercial scale, providing welcome news to anyone hoping to see the United States move to unlock the hidden potential of the more than 94,000 metric tons of spent fuel stored at power plant sites around the country.
Specialized loading equipment for TRUPACT-IIIs is sent from SRS to the Idaho Cleanup Project for reuse. (Photo: DOE)
Demonstrating the beneficial reuse of equipment among Department of Energy cleanup sites, the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management transferred TRUPACT-III shipping equipment from its Savannah River Site in South Carolina to the Idaho Cleanup Project at the Idaho National Laboratory Site. This collaboration shows how DOE-EM drives efficiency, focusing on priorities and reining in costs without sacrificing safety or effectiveness, the DOE said.
A continuous miner machine cuts into salt rock at WIPP. (Photo: DOE)
The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the addition of two new waste emplacement panels at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the Department of Energy’s geologic repository for defense-related transuranic waste in New Mexico.
N3B Los Alamos president Brad Smith (left) speaks to DNFSB tour participants