INL News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 30, 2010

NEWS MEDIA CONTACTS
Teri Ehresman, 208-521-9882 (c), teri.ehresman@inl.gov
Joseph Campbell, 208-360-0142 (c), joseph.campbell@icp.doe.gov

Idaho Falls hosts 2010 international DD&R conference

IDAHO FALLS — The American Nuclear Society's 2010 Decommissioning, Decontamination & Reutilization (DD&R) and Technology Expo Conference will be held at the Shilo Convention Center in Idaho Falls, Aug. 29 through Sept. 2.

Monday morning's opening plenary session will include a panel discussion on the challenges and lessons learned from decommissioning and dismantlement of nuclear facilities. Richard Provencher, manager of the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho Operations Office, will speak Tuesday evening around 7 p.m. at a Shilo dinner event. Members of the media are invited to attend these events as well as the technical sessions.

This year, the two main organizers of the conference are Idaho National Laboratory and CH2M-WG Idaho, LLC. The DD&R conference, through the American Nuclear Society Technical Division, happens once every two years. This is a chance for specialists in DD&R to share their successes and problems, said Technical Program Chair Jim Byrne of Byrne & Associates, LLC.

"Through this sharing, people can learn new and better ways to do things or discover a technology that will assist in solving a vexing problem," he said.

This is Byrne's third DD&R conference as technical program chair. Economic troubles have restricted travel budgets for many companies, he said, so the hardest part of putting this conference together was getting enough papers submitted.

"The key is to get the word out early and often through as many channels as possible," he said. From the two earlier conferences Byrne chaired, he developed a network of friends throughout the DD&R field. That network allowed him to attract paper submissions from all over the world.

"As a result, we have papers from five different countries," he said.

Students in nuclear engineering have a chance to attend the conference free of charge in exchange for volunteering at the conference for a day, running projectors and acting as timekeepers and runners. Members of the media are also invited to attend the technical sessions. The meeting schedule is available online at ddrtopical2010.org.

There are events for spouses and guests as well, including trips to nearby historical landmarks, Lava Hot Springs, and scenic tours in and around Idaho Falls.

Technical sessions will cover U.S. and international decommissioning projects, project infrastructure, waste management, site reutilization, environmental contamination measurements, spent fuel storage and other lessons learned. Conference registration opened at 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 29.

INL is one of the DOE's 10 multiprogram national laboratories. The laboratory performs work in each of DOE's strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science and environment. INL is the nation's leading center for nuclear energy research and development. Day-to-day management and operation of the laboratory is the responsibility of Battelle Energy Alliance.

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