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| Historical Perspective |
The
Materials and Fuels Complex (formerly Argonne National Laboratory-West)
was established in 1949. For the next 50 years, the primary function
of the facility was to design and develop the next steps in nuclear
reactor power stations.
Some
of the facilities still standing at ANL-W that played a role in
reactor design include the Transient Reactor Test facility (TREAT)
the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II), and the Zero Power
Physics Reactor (ZPPR). TREAT was used for testing the performance
of materials in a nuclear reactor, especially during power excursions.
EBR-II operated for 30 years, providing power and serving as a point
of research for reactor development and testing. The ZPPR facility
was used to test reactor design features for different fuel materials
and configurations. |
The
Materials and Fuels Complex is located approximately 40 miles
west of Idaho Falls about two miles north of Highway 20.
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| Current Activities |
As
of January 2004, there were about 650 Department of Energy-Idaho
(DOE-ID), BAE, and subcontractor employees at the complex.
There
are two major activities at the complex today. First is the electometallurgical
treatment of sodium-bonded spent
nuclear fuel from the Experimental Breeder Reactor II
(EBR-II). This activity, which takes place in shielded hot cells
at the Fuel Conditioning Facility (FCF), converts unstable spent
nuclear fuel to stable and disposable waste forms. The other main
activity is destructive and non-destructive examination of nuclear
materials for government and private customers. This activity is
performed in one of the most capable nuclear hot cells in the country,
the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF).
Another
activity at HFEF is the visual examination of transuranic waste
as required for quality assessment of waste certification. |
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| Waste Management Activities Related
to Settlement Agreement |
| The only remaining Settlement
Agreement issue at the complex is the management of the
spent nuclear fuel. All spent fuel at the complex is already in dry
storage. The fuel must now be treated to a disposable form and shipped
out of Idaho by 2035. |
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| Remediation Status |
| The remediation actions remaining at
the complex, which is a part of Waste
Area Group 9, include removal of some contaminated soils associated
with the Industrial Waste Pond. The pond will be drained and approximately
1000 cubic yards of soil contaminated with chromium, mercury, and
cesium will be excavated and transferred to the INL CERCLA Disposal
Facility landfill at INTEC. |
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| Radionuclide Emission Sources
|
Nearly
all of the radionuclide air emissions from the complex are from
operations associated with nuclear material examination and fuel
treatment at the HFEF and FCF. Radioactive air emissions are reported
in the annual National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air
Pollutants-Radionuclides report. |
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| Future Missions |
Future
missions at the complex include the continuation of current fuel
examination and treatment activities and a new mission, the production
of Radioisotope Thermal Generators (RTGs), sometimes referred to
as "space batteries" for use in NASA space programs. This
new RTG mission will assemble and test units that are used for production
of heat and electricity on satellites and other deep space equipment.
The change in the main INL mission from environmental management
to nuclear energy will likely result in future nuclear energy missions,
such as the development of the Generation
IV nuclear reactors. |
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| INL Oversight Monitoring at
the Materials and Fuels Complex |
INL
Oversight performs a variety of environmental monitoring in the
vicinity of Materials and Fuels Complex. Monitoring results are
made available to the public in quarterly
and annual environmental monitoring reports. |
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Radiation
|
INL
Oversight monitors ambient penetrating radiation on and around the
INL using Electret Ion Chambers (EIC's). EIC's are placed at each
facility and at approximately two-mile intervals around the perimeter
of the site. These devices are collected each quarter and processed
to determine the quarterly total ambient penetrating radiation exposure
for each location. Additionally, INL Oversight maintains High Pressure
Ion Chambers (HPIC's) at several locations around the INL. These
devices provide real-time radiation levels that can be monitored
remotely. |
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Soil
|
Soil
monitoring is performed to determine the presence and extent of
man-made radionuclides in the terrestrial environment. The INL contractor
performs periodic soil sampling and in-situ monitoring
near the INL facilities. INL Oversight performs monitoring at a
fraction of the contractor monitoring sites for verification of
the contractor's reported results. |
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Air
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Air
monitoring is performed to determine the presence and extent of
man-made radionuclides in the atmosphere. INL Oversight maintains
an array of air monitoring stations on and around the perimeter
of the INL. The nearest air monitoring station to the Materials
and Fuels Complex is located at the Experimental Field Station .
Air samples are analyzed for the presence and concentration of atmospheric
tritium, radioactive iodine, and suspended particulate matter for
gross alpha and gross beta, gamma radionuclides, and annually for
strontium-90, americium-241, plutonium-238, and plutonium-239/240.
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Water
|
INL
Oversight samples two wells and two effluent sites at the complex.
Although historic operations at Argonne National Laboratory-West
utilized several different waste water infiltration ponds for disposal
of liquid wastes containing chromium, lead, zinc, sliver, sulfate,
sodium, and radionuclides (cesium-137, cobalt-60 and uranium-238),
aquifer monitoring has not identified contamination clearly attributable
to the complex. |
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