Educator wants university input in new INEEL contract

A consortium of regional universities including Idaho State University should continue to be involved in both research and cleanup of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory when new contract holders are chosen for it, a higher education leader urges.

By Steven Friederich – Journal Writer

In April, the Department of Energy decided to split the contract in two – one contract to manage research and the other to clean up the site’s radioactive waste.

Gautam Pillay, executive director of the Inland Northwest Research Association, an alliance of eight universities including ISU, expressed concern that the split of contracts would force INRA to choose between the two projects.

DOE is expected to release a draft request for proposal – basically the steps a company would need to get a contract – as early as December, said DOE spokesman Tim Jackson. The new contract holder would be chosen by next year and could win a five- or 10-year contract, DOE documents show.

The contract also combines Argonne West, a contract currently held by the University of Chicago, with the site’s research center. The entire site, located in the Arco desert, will be renamed the Idaho National Laboratory.

Since Bechtel BWXT was awarded the INEEL contract in 1999, INRA has always been a part of the site’s major decisions. Bechtel and BWX Technologies teamed with INRA creating Bechtel B&W Idaho, LLC. Pillay is a member of its board of directors.

Pillay met with DOE officials between July 29 and Aug. 12, asking the agency to ensure the university alliance maintains its pivotal role with the site.

"At many national laboratories, regional university consortia are part of the formal management team," INRA said in a statement. "This needs to be maintained when INEEL becomes INL."

Pillay told DOE officials that INRA has helped expand INEEL’s research, improved the site’s performance, and was crucial in training the site’s work force.

"We are hoping for a strong encouragement for regional universities to be involved in this contract," Pillay said in a phone interview. "Regional universities are strong stakeholders in the region. We are attracting and recruiting a highly educated and technical work force to this region."

Pillay wouldn’t comment on whether he agreed the contract should be divided in two, however. Bechtel openly objected to the maneuver last May.

Together, the two contracts are worth about $6.5 billion – with the environmental cleanup portion worth $4 billion and research funded at $2.5 billion, DOE documents show.

"The request for proposal must include some sense of balance," Pillay said.

Pillay said he is concerned the contract’s research portion will focus more on the site’s new lead nuclear mission, instead of its past national security and environmental science roles.

The research portion would also be responsible for creating a new generation of nuclear reactors, currently under debate in Congress.

"An idea can look great on paper or in the confines of the laboratory, but it must be commercially viable and that’s where we can help," Pillay said. "This is not just a lab exercise. This is designing the next generation nuclear reactor for the entire world."

And professors with more than 30 years of experience could help understand human factors in the nuclear industry in addition to maintaining a control to ensure the site advances beyond 1970s nuclear technology.

He added that the INRA could help new contract holders with a team of researchers to analyze the nation’s economy.

In fiscal year 2002, INRA received $3.8 million funding for a Subsurface Science Research Institute, which studies the effects of nuclear waste under the earth and oceans. Funding was increased to $4 million in fiscal year 2003 and INRA has requested $8 million to continue its subsurface Ph.D. program, which is jointly operated by all eight of INRA’s universities. Fifty students are currently part of the program.

Besides ISU, INRA is comprised of the universities of Idaho, Alaska at Fairbanks, Montana, Washington State, Boise State, Montana State and Utah State.

The total research and development budget for the universities is about $530 million, which ranks the consortium as the seventh-largest university research organization in the nation, INRA figures show.

INRA facts

– INRA is based in Idaho Falls and is a consortium of eight universities including ISU. Additionally:

– Between fiscal years 2001 and 2003, INRA has funded 28 multi-year research projects in environmental management, energy sciences and national security.

– Those joint projects have resulted in 111 jointly authored presentation at technical symposia, 41 peer-reviewed articles published and over $11 million in new research grants to the INRA universities and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

– University students and post-docs who work on these projects have spent a total of 1,217 days at the INEEL working with mentors.

Steven Friederich is a county, state and federal political reporter for the Journal. He can be reached at (208) 239-6001 or by e-mail at [email protected].

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