EM Update | Vol. 11, Issue 40 | Oct. 15, 2019

• Idaho’s AMWTP Event Focuses on Dedication, Achievements of Employees
• Moab Site Celebrates 10 Million Tons of Tailings Shipped for Disposal
• Employees Reminisce as Treatment Mission Nears End
• Idaho Facility’s Distinctiveness Stands Test of Time
• AMWTP Adapted to Difficult Waste Types, Unusual Containers
• Robotic Arms, Supercompactor Slice and Squash Challenging Waste
• Work at AMWTP Continues After Waste Treatment Mission
• AMWTP’s Legacy of Success
• Planning Underway for Eventual AMWTP Closure

Idaho’s AMWTP Event Focuses on Dedication, Achievements of Employees

From left, EM Idaho Manager Jack Zimmerman, Idaho Gov. Brad Little, EM Senior Advisor Ike White, Fluor Idaho President Fred Hughes, and EM Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations Jeff Griffin at an event marking the upcoming completion of the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project transuranic waste debris treatment mission at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory Site.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Elected officials, DOE personnel, and others recognized the efforts of employees of the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) last week during an event to mark the upcoming completion of the facility’s transuranic waste debris treatment mission at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little, Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, U.S. congressional staff members, EM Senior Advisor Ike White, Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper, and former AMWTP managers and employees joined several hundred current employees of EM cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho’s AMWTP workforce to celebrate the waste treatment accomplishment scheduled for this fall.

“Idaho is very proud of the hundreds of people who helped reach this significant cleanup milestone,” Little said. “Their hard work protects Idaho citizens and the environment, and leaves a significant and meaningful legacy for INL and the country. The INL stands out as the lead nuclear facility in the United States because of the innovation that occurred as part of this project.”

White said the environmental legacy that exists is a consequence of winning the Cold War. He said the achievements at AMWTP would not have been possible without the support of the employees, community, and elected officials.

“Thank you to the entire community,” he said.

Casper thanked the AMWTP employees for being “super citizens” who are actively involved in the community, including volunteering, making charitable donations, supporting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) events, and mentoring and tutoring young students.

“We appreciate you,” she said.

Casper said the work done at AMWTP is a service to the rest of the nation and world.

“Every time we put a portion of legacy waste to rest, our nation is better off,” she said.

Brennan Summers, assistant to U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, said a statement was signed by members of Congress from Idaho and read into the congressional record recognizing the achievements of the AMWTP workforce.

An excerpt from that statement reads: “The employees of the AMWTP should be the models for the entire workforce of the DOE Complex. When they encountered challenging waste types and containers, they developed the procedures and processes to safely and compliantly address them. When the specialized equipment didn’t exist, they fabricated it, tested it, and put it to work. They adapted and found solutions to the most complex challenges they encountered.”

Fluor Idaho President Fred Hughes noted that more than 200 employees at the AMWTP have worked at the facility for 10 or more years.

“It’s my extreme pleasure working with this crew,” he said.

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

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Moab Site Celebrates 10 Million Tons of Tailings Shipped for Disposal

Officials hold plaques representing the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project’s progress moving waste to a permanent disposal cell. From left, Moab UMTRA Project Federal Cleanup Director Russell McCallister; EM Senior Advisor Ike White; Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center Associate Deputy Director Ken Armstrong; Moab UMTRA Project Deputy Federal Cleanup Director Sasha Robertson; Moab UMTRA Project Environmental, Safety, Health, and Quality Assurance Manager Del Dayrit; and Moab UMTRA Project Contracting Officer’s Representative Chris Pennal.

MOAB, Utah – EM Senior Advisor Ike White underscored the importance of the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project cleanup to the surrounding community and the overall EM mission at an event last week to celebrate a milestone of shipping 10 million tons of tailings to a disposal cell near Crescent Junction, Utah.

“This part of Utah is unique,” White remarked to an audience of about 75 people gathered for the event. “The importance of cleanup to this site and to the community is undeniable.”

White thanked local and state government partners during the community celebration at Lions Park in Moab. He said the work that crews complete every day at the former uranium ore processing facility adds up to meaningful progress towards cleanup completion. An estimated 6 million tons of waste remain at the Moab Site for disposal.

“Without the team’s dedication to the mission over the past 10 years, this project would not be where it is today. So, I want to thank you for your perseverance and your commitment to seeing this project through,” White said.

U.S. Rep. John Curtis of Utah was among the speakers at an event celebrating the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project milestone of shipping 10 million tons of tailings from the Moab Site to a disposal cell near Crescent Junction, Utah.

Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project Federal Cleanup Director Russell McCallister talks about the project’s accomplishments and thanks stakeholders for their contributions over the years.

EM began work in 2009 to relocate mill tailings from the Moab Site adjacent to the Colorado River to the newly created disposal cell about 30 miles away. Each week, four trainloads of tailings make the trek between the two sites.

Moab UMTRA Project Federal Cleanup Director Russell McCallister noted the strong ties between the EM project and the community.

“I think our team has a true dedication to the cleanup work and especially to this community,” McCallister said. “A lot of our workforce is from this community, have been here a long time, they believe in the project, and that shows.”

Other speakers at the event included U.S. Rep. John Curtis of Utah, Grand County Moab Tailings Project Steering Committee Chair Mary McGann, and Greg Church, project manager with North Wind Portage, the Moab UMTRA Project’s remedial action contractor.

“I’m so proud of the Department of Energy, of everybody that’s been involved in this, with this commitment to make this right, to make this a beautiful place, a place we’re proud of,” Curtis said.

-Contributors: Stephanie Lein, Honora Thompson

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Editor's Note

In this issue of EM Update, EM marks the anticipated completion this fall of the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) Treatment Facility’s treatment mission. Following are stories about the innovative employees, unique equipment, the challenges involved in the mission, and the facility's legacy of success. 

Employees Reminisce as Treatment Mission Nears End

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – For employees of the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) at DOE's Idaho National Laboratory Site, the anticipated completion of the facility’s transuranic (TRU) waste debris treatment mission this fall is bittersweet.

Many expressed a great feeling of satisfaction in supporting a large part of the facility’s work scope. But saying goodbye to colleagues and to the buildings where they worked is a sobering reality.

Nathan Loftus, waste treatment operations manager for Fluor Idaho, EM’s INL Site cleanup contractor, joined AMWTP in 2004 as a utility operator after leaving a supervisory job with a Utah commercial and residential construction firm.

“I wanted to move back home, and the AWMTP position provided better job security,” he said.

When Loftus arrived, AMWTP hadn’t begun operating yet. It was undergoing an operational readiness review before commencing waste treatment. Loftus’ job was to oversee all utility work in the facility, from ventilation to safety systems.

Loftus took additional training and increased his qualifications, eventually working his way up to manager.

“I went from the bottom on up,” he said.

What Loftus will miss most is the people who made the facility so successful.

“I’ve worked with a lot of good people,” he said. “I’ve learned something from each and every one of them.”

Loftus anticipates staying at AMWTP to assist in the facility’s closure under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, an effort set to continue until 2028. He said shipping waste will likely continue until 2028, and then key AMWTP buildings would be torn down.

Nate Loftus arrived at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project just before it began operations. He will assist with the plant's eventual closure.

Marietta Ryan's plans for retirement include motorhome trips to visit family and friends.

Marietta Ryan came to AMWTP in 2004 from Wyoming, where she was a water treatment plant operator. She heard of the job opening at a local job service office.

In her nearly 16 years at AMWTP, Ryan advanced from a supercompactor operator to a member of a maintenance crew in which she performed “bubble suit” — or personal protective equipment — entries into the facility’s boxlines for waste size-reduction and packaging, among other work. The boxlines are huge concrete and metal hot cells where containers of waste are opened and sorted without exposing workers to hazardous materials inside.

Ryan spoke highly of her coworkers.

“The guys in the boxline are incredible equipment operators,” she said. “They keep the supercompactor running smoothly. It’s like we have a racecar and all the parts have to work.”

Ryan plans to retire at the end of AMWTP’s waste treatment mission, buy a motorhome, and travel the U.S., including visiting lifelong friends she made at AMWTP who have since moved to other states.

“I’m going to miss the people,” she said, referring to colleagues at the Treatment Facility. “We’re like family.”

Fluor Idaho President Fred Hughes has come full circle at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project, having been involved at the facility from its infancy to the near completion of its transuranic waste debris treatment mission.

Fluor Idaho President Fred Hughes was general manager of BNFL Inc. when that company began construction of AMWTP in the late 1990s. He was even present for the facility’s ceremonial groundbreaking.

Following other nuclear industry assignments, Hughes returned to Idaho in 2016 to lead the Idaho Cleanup Project contract for Fluor Idaho.

“In many respects, I feel fortunate to have been here before construction actually began, and now that the facility is on the cusp of completing its waste treatment mission,” he said. “I’ve come full circle here so there’s a feeling of pride and accomplishment.”

Hughes said the employees themselves deserve much credit and praise for their work.

“I can’t thank our employees enough for the countless hours, days, weeks, and years of support,” he said. “It’s been such an incredible honor to work with so many talented people. They are truly some of the best in the DOE complex.”

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

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Idaho Facility’s Distinctiveness Stands Test of Time

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – The Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) has maintained its uniqueness since the mid-1990s, when it was envisioned: one facility capable of retrieving, characterizing, treating, certifying, and shipping transuranic (TRU) waste.

AMWTP was built by BNFL Inc. to disposition 65,000 cubic meters of above-ground transuranic and low-level wastes sent to the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site from the former Rocky Flats Plant near Denver from 1970 through the 1980s. It was modeled after a treatment facility in Sellafield, U.K., that used automated processes — including a drum-crushing supercompactor similar to the one at AMWTP — to disposition wastes.

EM is scheduled to complete its TRU waste debris treatment mission at AMWTP this fall. The facility will then close in phases under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act while continuing to ship TRU waste to EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in the next decade.

“It’s been my distinct pleasure to be part of this effort and to work with such talented employees who have been so committed to removing this waste from the state of Idaho,” said Bryan Breffle, a director at Fluor Idaho, EM’s INL Site cleanup contractor. “I have mixed emotions about it. It’s extremely fulfilling to complete our waste treatment mission, but at the same time, I will miss the people and the facility where such great work took place.”

The supercompactor, above, and its hydraulic ram, at left, apply more than 4 million pounds of pressure to 55-gallon waste drums to create five-inch-thick “pucks” that are loaded into overpack drums in preparation for off-site disposal.

The workhorse of the facility — the supercompactor — will crush its last drum of TRU waste debris in coming weeks. During the past 16 years, the hydraulic ram exerted 4 million pounds of force, crushing more than 250,000 55-gallon drums, converting them into 5-inch-thick “pucks.” Those pucks are placed in drums, loaded into transport casks, and sent by truck to WIPP. Super-compacting the drums has saved more than 6,000 truck shipments that would have been required to send the waste to the permanent disposal facility.

“We couldn’t have been so successful without the supercompactor,” said Breffle. “While the U.K. version would crush 40 drums in a given month, our supercompactor often crushed more than 40 drums in a single day. Many AMWTP employees will be quite emotional when they see the last drum get crushed.”

Following the closure of AMWTP’s Treatment Facility, many Fluor Idaho employees who work there will be transferred to other cleanup projects at the INL Site or will remain at the Treatment Facility to assist with closure. Some employees will leave Fluor Idaho to work on other projects at the INL Site.

“Many of our employees spent their entire careers at the AMWTP facility,” said Breffle. “They developed unique skills that can be applied to other nuclear-related work and I’m happy many will stay in Idaho to support work here.”

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

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AMWTP Adapted to Difficult Waste Types, Unusual Containers

Fluor Idaho deployed a system to characterize the contents of some containers at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project by measuring their dimensions and entering them into a computer program. It allowed personnel to characterize hundreds of waste containers that otherwise couldn’t be characterized with traditional equipment due to the shape or configuration of the waste. 

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Challenging waste types and uniquely shaped waste containers have kept things interesting for employees of the DOE Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site’s Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP).

Those challenges have required the employees to adapt the AMWTP facilities to ultimately dispose the waste and containers.

During the 16-year mission to retrieve, characterize, treat, certify, and ship for disposal 65,000 cubic meters of transuranic and low-level wastes, AMWTP received tens of thousands of 55-gallon drums and boxes in various conditions.

Those elements presented obstacles, such as containers too large to fit into the boxlines for resizing and repackaging. The boxlines are huge concrete and metal hot cells where the containers of radioactive waste are opened and sorted without exposing workers to hazardous materials inside.

Most recently, AMWTP treated waste containing the reactive metal uranium. Operators used robotic arms to dump the waste contents into trays and rake through the material. The waste was repackaged and compacted in the facility’s supercompactor before being safely shipped offsite for permanent disposal.

“It all went according to plan,” said Nate Loftus, project manager with Fluor Idaho, EM’s INL Site cleanup contractor. “We had modified our procedures and put safety processes in place to protect our employees and facilities. This was yet another example of how effective our workforce is at adapting and completing our cleanup mission.”

Crews resized gloveboxes containing waste and other large debris after opening 12-foot-high waste boxes from laboratories at EM’s former Mound Site in Ohio.

In another recently completed project, crews resized gloveboxes containing waste and other large debris after opening 12-foot-high waste boxes from laboratories at EM’s former Mound Site in Ohio during the Cold War. The challenge of that project was safely dispositioning the waste contaminated with plutonium-238, an extremely fine, dust-like material.

Enclosures with reverse airflow and extensive high-efficiency particulate air filters allowed employees — wearing personal protection equipment and using supplied breathing air — to safely open the boxes and resize the materials. A separate enclosure was erected at the nearby Accelerated Retrieval Project VII facility where workers used tools, such as reciprocating saws, to reduce the size of gloveboxes.

Another success story involved the disposition of 30 boxes containing high-activity isotopes. To prepare for processing this waste, employees developed new procedures, conducted engineering evaluations, drafted new radiation control requirements, and completed additional training.

Crews opened the boxes inside a boxline using a robotic arm, transferring the contents to a metal trough where the waste was separated into smaller, lower-activity amounts. Then they moved the segregated debris through a port into an awaiting drum.

Inner contamination enclosures were in essence soft-sided buildings within a building that allowed crews to open, resize, segregate, and repackage challenging waste forms or containers.

Fluor Idaho also deployed a new system to characterize the contents of some containers by measuring their dimensions and entering them into a computer program. This system was helpful when workers couldn’t obtain valid results due to the shape or configuration of waste in several hundred containers.

For that work, employees also used data from a camera that maps gamma rays emanating from the containers and locates portions with high levels of radiation. The system then characterized the gamma rays and determined specific isotopes and radioactive quantities. The technology also double-checked waste characterization assessments for consistency.

“Putting the system into use allowed us to provide the specific characterization data required by WIPP,” Fluor Idaho Manager Ed Gulbransen said. Waste treated at AMWTP is sent to the New Mexico repository for permanent disposal.

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

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Robotic Arms, Supercompactor Slice and Squash Challenging Waste

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Two pieces of equipment at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) deliver a proverbial one-two punch to help the facility with the disposition of waste more safely and efficiently.

Crews have used three robotic arms to open radioactive waste containers, reduce the size of concrete and other difficult waste forms, and sort and package the waste in 55-gallon drums for compaction in the supercompactor. They have worked with the robotic arms in boxlines, huge concrete and metal hot cells that protect workers from coming into contact with the waste.

At one point in the waste treatment mission, the workers realized they needed a larger robotic arm attachment than the ones they used. 

The "super clam" can crush a drum into the size of a basketball or sheer metal objects into small enough pieces to fit into a 55-gallon silver drum.

AMWTP engineers partnered with an Idaho Falls, Idaho, firm to fabricate a new arm attachment known as the “super clam.”

The super clam easily reduces the size of waste boxes, drums, concrete, and metal containing transuranic (TRU) constituents. It is so powerful and dexterous that operators can crunch a 55-gallon drum into the size of a basketball, reduce solid concrete slabs into small chunks, and quickly crush waste boxes and metal debris. Operators have become so proficient using the super clam that they can even gently turn the pages of magazines they occasionally find in the waste.

A robotic arm resizes a metal tank in one of the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project’s boxlines.

A waste drum awaits the supercompactor's hydraulic ram.

A silver 55-gallon was crushed into a “puck” by the supercompactor.

Workers use the robotic arms in concert with AMWTP’s supercompactor, which leverages 4 million pounds of force to reduce a standard 55-gallon drum filled with solid TRU waste debris to a five- to seven-inch-thick puck. Its crushing force is so powerful that it has squeezed several ounces of water out of kiln-dried lumber. Drums of debris that meet AMWTP entry requirements, and contain no prohibited items, go directly to the supercompactor via a conveyer line.

The supercompactor has been among the most popular attractions of the 40-plus tours each year at the Idaho Cleanup Project. Visitors often insist on watching several drum compactions before leaving AMWTP.

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

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Work at AMWTP Continues After Waste Treatment Mission

Thousands of drums at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project at DOE's Idaho National Laboratory Site await shipment to EM's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – The transuranic (TRU) waste debris treatment mission scheduled to conclude this fall at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site represents a relatively small footprint within the broader Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP).

Although the mission to resize and repackage TRU waste at AMWTP’s Treatment Facility is set to end in coming weeks, workers will continue shipping TRU and low-level waste out of AMWTP for off-site disposal well into the next decade.

“The Treatment Facility will close, but we still have an overall mission to complete,” said Bryan Breffle, a director at Fluor Idaho, EM’s INL Site cleanup contractor. “We’re the largest shipper to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and we will continue to be for the foreseeable future.”

In late June, AMWTP completed its 500th shipment to WIPP since the permanent disposal repository in New Mexico reopened and resumed receiving waste in April 2017. Those 500 shipments comprised 11,300 drums of waste.

Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project crews prepare a transportation cask containing waste for shipment to EM's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

Shipping waste from the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is set to continue for the next decade.

As many as seven TRU waste shipments leave the INL Site for WIPP every week. EM’s INL Site program is responsible for nearly 60 percent of the shipments WIPP has received. Transportation casks containing TRU waste are a common sight at AMWTP, staged for use on the plant’s north side.

AMWTP has sent more than 6,300 shipments of TRU waste to WIPP, representing nearly 9 million miles of shipments.

“Our track record of sending waste to WIPP is outstanding,” said Breffle. “The public and communities along the way should feel assured that we have an impeccable safety record and we’ll continue to build on it as we move forward.”

The Idaho State Police is responsible for thoroughly inspecting each shipment before it can enter Idaho’s roadways en route to WIPP. A burned-out turn indicator bulb on a truck or tractor trailer is enough to delay a shipment until a replacement is installed.

Each shipment to EM's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant must be cleared for travel by an Idaho State Police trooper following a thorough inspection.

“We have a great appreciation for the Idaho State Police,” Breffle said. “They leave no stone unturned in their inspection. It’s all about keeping the driver and public safe.”

Additional TRU and low-level waste generated from a targeted waste exhumation effort at the INL Site’s Accelerated Retrieval Project will also be prepared for shipment out of the state by AMWTP crews.

EM waste shipments will continue to leave the INL Site for up to 10 years.

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

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AMWTP’s Legacy of Success

A new robotic arm was installed at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project to provide more “muscle” in waste resizing operations.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Following its eventual closure, the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) will leave behind a legacy of being a successful waste treatment facility that was well conceived, built, and executed.

Construction of the plant began in the late 1990s, and crews safely finished building it in late December 2002, three days ahead of the completion date required under the 1995 Idaho Settlement Agreement. AMWTP went on to meet several additional milestones under the agreement with the state of Idaho.

Safety has been a hallmark of the project, as the plant’s workers surpassed more than 16 million hours without a lost-time injury. They are nearing completion in the mission to retrieve, characterize, treat, certify, and ship for disposal 65,000 cubic meters of transuranic and low-level waste that had been stored on an asphalt pad at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site since 1970.

Some of that waste presented unique challenges, such as the large size of containers, the high concentrations of radionuclides, and the potentially reactive properties of the materials. Crews have safely treated all of that challenging waste in recent years.

In each case of challenging waste forms, AMWTP employees developed technologies, processes, and worker-protection measures to safely and compliantly treat the waste.

“AMWTP workers continually developed new technologies to address challenges at the project,” EM Idaho Manager Jack Zimmerman said. “Many of these technologies have been deployed at other DOE facilities across the complex. Thus, in some instances, AMWTP workers have been able to solve a complex-wide problem.”

For example, the radiological protection, safety, and engineering divisions at Fluor Idaho, EM’s INL Site cleanup contractor, collaborated with a vendor to improve supplied breathing-air suits, also known as "bubble suits." They made those suits safer by adding reinforcements, and cooler by improving their air flow.

Former Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) employee Chad Jardine holds a "bubble suit," a critical piece of personal protective equipment for workers who conduct maintenance in AMWTP’s boxlines.

“If there’s one takeaway from the 16-plus years of active operating experience at the AMWTP that others could benefit from, it’s the need to be adaptable, to expect the unexpected, and work with employees to mitigate challenges,” Fluor Idaho President Fred Hughes said. “Being flexible, implementing employee ideas, and modifying processes and equipment, when necessary, made the difference down the stretch.”

In another example, employees at the AMWTP Treatment Facility added a new, more powerful robotic arm than the older one they had used to open waste containers, reduce the size of difficult waste forms, and sort and package the waste in 55-gallon drums for compaction in the supercompactor.

“Other DOE facilities that will require the construction of a similar waste treatment facility should examine the conception-to-closure history of the AMWTP,” Hughes said. “It was the experienced talent of the workforce and their innovations that were required to treat all wastes regardless of their complexity.”

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

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Planning Underway for Eventual AMWTP Closure

Under a proposed strategy, the Transuranic Storage Area/Retrieval Enclosure, which is the large gray building pictured here, would become the first building to be closed at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project at DOE's Idaho National Laboratory Site.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – The ultimate closure of the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) will involve a coordinated effort among the state of Idaho, EM, the DOE Idaho Operations Office, and cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho.

Planning is underway to close the waste treatment facility under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The project includes a systematic and integrated building demolition effort.

Challenges will result from the need to complete the work in phases. AMWTP’s closure is dependent on two other projects: completion of the targeted transuranic (TRU) waste retrieval mission of the Accelerated Retrieval Project (ARP) and the site preparation and construction of a gravel and soil cover to place over the 97-acre Subsurface Disposal Area and the western portion of AMWTP.

Under a proposed strategy, the five-acre Transuranic Storage Area/Retrieval Enclosure (TSA/RE) at AMWTP would be removed first to make way for part of the earthen cover and an extensive water drainage system off the landfill cover.

At top is a view of the Radioactive Waste Management Complex at DOE's Idaho National Laboratory Site. Ultimately, an earthen cover will be built over the site as shown in the rendering immediately above. 

In the second phase, the AMWTP Treatment Facility and associated buildings are set to be closed. EM is scheduled to complete its TRU waste debris treatment mission at the Treatment Facility this fall. That’s where robotic arms resize waste and a supercompactor crushes 55-gallon drums as part of volume-reduction and treatment efforts.

The third phase involves closing remaining AMWTP buildings once all TRU and low-level waste is shipped for disposal. Shipments to EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant are scheduled to continue up until 2028.

Meanwhile, the buried TRU exhumation project at ARP IX is projected to be completed late next year. Demolition of that facility and remaining soft-sided buildings from previous targeted buried waste exhumation projects will commence soon after.

Ultimately, a 10-foot-thick earthen cover spanning more than 150 acres will be built over the landfill, and a drainage system will be constructed to move water away from it.

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

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