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| Historical Perspective |
Naval
Reactors Facility (NRF) was established in 1950 to support development
of the U.S. Navy nuclear propulsion program. From the early 1950's
to the mid 1990's, NRF built and operated prototype nuclear propulsion
plants for submarines and aircraft carriers.
For over
50 years, NRF has supported the navy's nuclear powered fleet by
testing reactor designs, receiving nuclear fuel for examination
and storage, and training sailors to operate shipboard nuclear power
plants.
Over the
course of its history, nearly 40,000 navy personnel received training
at NRF. |
Naval
Reactors Facility is located approximately 52 miles northwest of
Idaho Falls. |
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| Current Activities |
As
of January 2004, there were about 900, DOE-Naval Reactors, Bechtel
Bettis, and subcontractor employees at NRF. Current operations include
research, inspection and examination of naval spent nuclear fuel
at the Expended Core Facility and temporary storage of naval spent
nuclear fuel. The information derived from research at NRF provides
engineering data on nuclear reactor environments as well as performance
data on reactor fuels and components. Such information has allowed
the navy to extend the useful life of its shipboard power plants
from a few years to about thirty years. |
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| Waste Management Activities Related
to Settlement Agreement |
| The only remaining Settlement
Agreement issue at NRF is the management of spent nuclear fuel
that is currently in storage at the facility. This fuel must be placed
into dry storage by 2023 (a dry storage facility has already been
constructed at NRF). The spent fuel must then be removed from Idaho
by 2035. |
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| Remediation Status |
|
Most CERCLA remediation activities at NRF
have been completed. The remaining activities include placing engineered
caps over a few areas of contaminated soil to preclude migration
of contaminants to the aquifer as well as continued institutional
controls and groundwater monitoring.
Cleanup
of the NRF is being addressed as a part of WAG
8. |
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| Radionuclide Emission Sources
|
| The main radionuclide emission source
at NRF is the operations at the Expended Core Facility. This facility
is used for performing research, inspection, examination, and storage
of naval spent nuclear fuel. Radioactive air emissions are reported
in the annual National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants-Radionuclides
report. |
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| Future Missions |
| Naval Reactors Facility will continue
to support the navy's nuclear powered fleet through research and development
of materials and equipment and through receipt and storage of naval
spent fuel. Other future missions will support removal of the spent
fuel from Idaho. |
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| INL Oversight Monitoring at
NRF |
| INL Oversight performs a variety of
environmental monitoring in the vicinity of NRF. Monitoring results
are made available to the public in quarterly
and annual environmental monitoring reports. |
| |
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, High Pressure
Ion Chambers (HPIC's) at several locations around the INL provide
real-time radiation levels that can be monitored
remotely. |
| |
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 at and near the INL facilities. INL Oversight
performs monitoring at a fraction of the contractor monitoring sites
for verification of the contractor's reported results. |
| |
Air
|
| 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 NRF 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. |
| |
Water
|
Groundwater
beneath the Naval Reactors Facility has been impacted by liquid
waste disposal from the Industrial Waste Ditch, sewage lagoons,
and several drain fields, leaching pits and ponds, with the greatest
effluent volumes being directed to the Industrial Waste Ditch and
sewage lagoons. Disposal to these sources included tritium, strontium-90,
cobalt-60, and cesium-137, as well as chloride, sodium, and sulfate.
Aquifer monitoring has shown chromium, nitrates, tritium, sulfate,
sodium, and chloride just slightly elevated compared to background
aquifer concentrations at NRF. INL Oversight monitors the aquifer
at four wells and effluents at two sites at NRF. |
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