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Nuclear engineer gives glimpse of bright INEEL future

A top nuclear engineer gave local leaders a glimpse Thursday of what the future of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory might look like.

By Sean Ellis – Pocatello Idaho State Journal Writer

While the site’s outlook seemed bleak when the nation’s nuclear energy research and development budget was basically eliminated in 1997, it suddenly looks bright now, said Steven Aumeier, deputy associate laboratory director for Argonne National Laboratory, a nuclear research lab located at the INEEL.

U.S. Sen. Larry Craig’s announcement Wednesday that INEEL could soon be home to a $1.1 billion advanced test reactor could have a major impact on the eastern Idaho economy if it happens, he said.

"It (would) be a tremendous economic impact on the region," Aumeier told members of the Pocatello Rotary Club. "I think we see the tide turning, yet again."

A pending energy bill includes a provision to build a hydrogen co-generation reactor – a reactor which produces both electricity and hydrogen fuel – at the INEEL by 2010.

The INEEL, west of Idaho Falls, employs more than 7,200 people, including hundreds from the Pocatello area.

One billion dollars, even spread over several years, would have a tremendous impact on the Pocatello area, said Sam Nettinga, who retired last year as general manager of the Greater Pocatello Chamber of Commerce.

Aumeier said the site’s future is tied to five basic fundamental technological pillars, and told Rotary members to watch for announcements in those areas in coming months and years:

– The advanced test reactor and finding ways to use fuel more efficiently: "That’s central to the whole mission. Look for activity there."

– Hydrogen and fuel-cell systems. "To gain true energy independence in this country … we have to diversify the transportation energy sector and one way to do that is the introduction of hydrogen and fuel cells."

– Power systems for space travel.

– National security and homeland defense, including determining where a radiological material used in a weapon came from.

– Environmental science. "There are still a lot of scientific questions to answer regarding how materials behave long term in the environment."

Aumeier said the site looks to make the regional universities senior partners in these areas, which in turn could draw more businesses to the area.

"The vision (the INEEL) has for Pocatello and eastern Idaho is absolutely phenomenal," Nettinga said.

http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2003/03/28/news/local/news09.txt

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