Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEEL) business model changes scheduled this week

ARCO – Although Idaho’s nuclear site will probably never return to the prominence it held in the mid-1990’s, it will continue to provide cutting-edge research for the nation, according to site officials.

By Emily Jones – Idaho State Journal Writer

"It will be a smaller lab, but it will be a stronger lab," said Idaho National Engineering Laboratory spokesman John Walsh.

By the end of the week the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) will have completed a reorganization that will divide the site into two programs. The Idaho Cleanup Initiative will be given the responsibility for completing the site’s Accelerated Cleanup Plan, and the INEEL will focus on research and development.

One of the main reasons for the reorganization, Walsh said, is funding. In July, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced that the INEEL would be the lead laboratory for nuclear research. With the new mission, oversight and funding of the lab was shifted from the Office of Environmental Management to the Office of Nuclear Energy.

The Idaho Cleanup Initiative will continue to receive its funding from the Office of Environmental Management, while the INEEL will receive funding from the Office of Nuclear Energy.

Some areas such as human resources, communications, security, busing and engineering will be shared by the two programs.

"The public really isn’t going to notice a change at all," Walsh said.

In the mid-1990’s, about 13,000 people worked at the INEEL. Today, just over 7,000 work there. Walsh said the new research mission will not restore the site to its former size, but it will ensure INEEL’s survival.

The focus of research will be mostly on the future of nuclear energy and national security, Walsh said.

In the nuclear energy field, scientists are working on advanced fuel cell technology and Generation IV reactors, a new, cleaner and more economical model.

Different Generation IV reactor ideas are currently being studied around the world, and Walsh said the INEEL could someday house a prototype.

In the area of national security, the INEEL’s infrastructure, including an extensive utility system, provides a test bed for security testing.

"There’s a lot of science left at the lab," he said. "This is where the lab is going to grow."

While the INEEL looks to the future, the Idaho Cleanup Initiative will work on a timeline to complete most required cleanup at the site by 2012.

The Idaho Completion Project will be divided into six projects cleaning and closing different areas of the site west of Idaho Falls. The projects, which will implement the site’s new Accelerated Cleanup Plan, will save the Department of Energy $18 billion over the life of the project, spokesperson Stacey Francis said.

The savings will be reinvested into other cleanup programs at the site, Francis said. Without the Accelerated Cleanup Plan, estimated yearly cleanup budgets would reach $1.2 billion at its height.

"Never would we have gotten $1.2 billion," Francis said. "We can’t continue to do it the way it was. There’s not enough money to go around."

The Accelerated Cleanup Project changes the order of some required jobs, and, according to Francis, will make sure the cleanup is done more economically and quickly. Francis said the plan also adds common sense.

Test Area North, for example, is an area of the site scheduled to be cleaned to residential standards, but is surrounded by areas that will be restored only to industrial standards. As part of the plan, Test Area North will be improved to the standards of surrounding facilities.

"There was an area where you could put a picnic table in between two places that will have to be fenced forever," she said.

Some groups say the Accelerated Cleanup Plan actually means less cleanup. Francis said the INEEL’s recent Notice of Violation by the Environmental Protection Agency for not meeting cleanup standards at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center is proof that they will not be allowed to lessen standards.

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].

http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2003/02/25/news/local/news03.txt