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Argonne announces staff reduction

Company offers voluntary separation packages to 40 workers in Idaho, Illinois

ARCO — Argonne National Laboratory announced Monday they will offer a voluntary separation package to reduce their staff by 40 in Idaho and Illinois.

By Emily Jones — Journal Writer

The decision to reduce the work force is not related to economics, spokesman Paul Pugmire said, but a shift in the focus of the laboratory toward fuel recycling.

“It’s not budget-driven at all,” Pugmire said.

The package will be offered to all employees in Chicago and at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory who are at least 55 years old and have 10 years of service.

If they accept the package, salaried employees will be given 2 percent of their salary for each year of experience up to 75 percent.

Hourly employees will be given five days’ pay for the first year of service and two and a half days pay for each additional year of service.

About 250 employees in Chicago and at the INEEL will be eligible for the package. About 110 of the employees work at the site.

If 40 employees do not leave voluntarily, layoffs could be possible, Pugmire said. The laboratory could also hire new employees with expertise in chemical sciences.

“We’re just going to have to wait and see,” Pugmire said.

Pugmire said the laboratory plans on turning its attention to pyroprocessing, a method of recycling spent nuclear fuel for future use. The method was developed at Argonne National Laboratory’s Idaho facility, and was used when closing the laboratory’s Experimental Breeder Reactor II.

The technology could be developed on a larger scale for commercial nuclear power plants, Pugmire said.

“We see our future work as being more toward fuel recycling,” he said.

Emily Jones covers Bingham County, Fort Hall and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory for the Journal. She can be reached at 239-3175 or by e-mail at [email protected].

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