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Media contacts:
Erik Simpson (208) 360-0426
Idaho National Laboratory receives national recognition for Small Business Mentoring Program
With the help of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
funds, the Idaho Cleanup Project continues work to protect
the Snake River Plain Aquifer this week by injecting grout
into 21 buried waste locations in the Subsurface Disposal
Area (SDA) of the Radioactive Waste Management Complex
(RWMC) at the Department of Energy�s Idaho Site. The project
will cost $8.2 million and will reduce the threat of
contaminants migrating toward the aquifer by keeping water
out of the waste.
�Protecting the Snake River Plain Aquifer is a priority
at the Idaho Site. Thanks to Recovery Act funds, this
grouting work will help ensure the safety of our important
natural resource,� said Rick Provencher, manager of DOE�s
Idaho Operations Office.
Wastes being targeted in the grouting effort include
glass and resins produced during historical research and
operations at the Idaho National Lab (INL), which were
buried in the 1960s and 1970s. These wastes are contaminated
with mobile forms of technetium-99 and iodine-129. Grouting
will inhibit rain and snow melt from infiltrating through
the waste, thus reducing the ability of contaminants to flow
toward the aquifer until the more permanent cover is
installed beginning in approximately 2025.
This project, which began on June 7 and is expected to be
completed this fall, is the third time that grout will have
been injected into buried waste to slow migration of
contaminants underground. The first occurred in 1997 as a
demonstration project. In 2004, paraffin wax was
successfully injected in the vicinity of buried beryllium
reflector blocks to slow the release of carbon-14.
The latest grouting project is the second phase of a 2008
Record of Decision signed by DOE, the Environmental
Protection Agency, and the State of Idaho to remediate the
RWMC�s 97-acre SDA. The first phase, which is ongoing,
involves excavating targeted waste from a minimum of 5.69
acres of the SDA and packaging the targeted waste for
offsite disposal. Ultimately, a soil cover will be
constructed over the entire Subsurface Disposal Area.
CH2M-WG Idaho, contractor for the ICP, hired Santa Paula,
Calif.-based Hayward Baker, Inc. (HBI), to formulate a
Portland-based concrete grout and inject the material in
waste locations. HBI has brought in employees and also hired
six individuals from the local union to operate components
of the system and provide operational support.
For additional information about the Idaho Cleanup
Project, visit https://idahocleanupproject.com
ICP-10-008
Editorial Date June 15, 2010
By Brad Bugger |