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| Historical Perspective |
| The Test Reactor Area was established
in the early 1950s and has been the location of three major test reactors;
the Materials Test Reactor (1952-1970), the Engineering Test Reactor
(1957-1982), and the Advanced Test Reactor which first started up
in 1967 and is operating today. After 37 years, the Advanced Test
Reactor is still considered the world's premier test reactor. |
The
Test Reactor Area is located approximately 50 miles west of Idaho
Falls about five miles north of Highway 20.
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| Current Activities |
| As of January 2004, there were about
500 Department of Energy-Idaho (DOE-ID), Bechtel BWXT Idaho (BBWI),
and subcontractor employees at the Test Reactor Area. The major activity
at Test Reactor Area is the operation of the Advanced Test Reactor
(ATR). The ATR is used to evaluate the effects of very high radiation
fields on metals and reactor components, as well as for the production
of radioisotopes for pharmaceutical and other uses. The major customer
of the ATR has been and continues to be the U.S. Navy. The navy performs
testing and research at the ATR in order to improve the efficiency
and safety of nuclear reactors used aboard warships and submarines.
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A
view inside the Advanced Test Reactor
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| Waste Management Activities
Related to Settlement Agreement |
| The only remaining Settlement
Agreement issue at TRA is the management of the spent fuel from
the ATR. Fuel which is no longer to be used is stored in a water basin
to cool and then transferred to dry storage at the Idaho Nuclear Technology
and Engineering Center (INTEC). An amount of nuclear fuel is maintained
at the facility to be used for future reactor operations. |
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| Remediation Status |
| The contaminated areas at TRA are listed
in Waste Area Group 2. |
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| Radionuclide Emission Sources
|
| The ATR is the largest source of radionuclide
air emissions at TRA. During normal operations, the other sources
of radionuclide emissions are the evaporation pond and the radiochemical
laboratory. Radioactive air emissions are reported in the annual National
Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants-Radionuclides
report. |
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| Future Missions |
| TRA will continue to provide nuclear
reactor testing and materials research for the navy and other customers
for many years. |
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| INL Oversight Monitoring at
TRA |
| INL Oversight performs a variety of
environmental monitoring in the vicinity of TRA. 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
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. |
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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 stations
to TRA are located at Van Buren Avenue and 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
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| Historical disposal of industrial,
sanitary, and radioactive wastes to disposal ponds, and industrial
wastes to injections wells has impacted the groundwater beneath TRA.
Such practices resulted in contaminated perched ground water above
the aquifer as well as tritium, chromium, and sulfate contamination
in the aquifer. Only chromium still exceeds a drinking water standard.
Low-level radioactive wastes associated with operation of the Advanced
Test Reactor are now sent to a lined evaporation pond, and the remaining
industrial and sanitary wastes are sent to infiltration ponds. INL
Oversight monitors industrial effluent to an industrial waste pond,
as well as the perched ground water, and the aquifer beneath TRA.
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