EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a regular summary
of operations at DOE’s Idaho Site. It has been compiled
in response to a request from stakeholders for more
information on health, safety and environmental
incidents at DOE facilities in Idaho. It also includes a
brief summary of accomplishments at the laboratory. The
report is broken down by contractor:
Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP),
Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP)
and
Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This summary will
be sent to everyone on INL’s regular news release
distribution list every other week. To be added to this
distribution list, please call Brad Bugger at (208)
526-0833.
Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project
No incidents to report.
Operational Summary
Waste Shipments: Through July 18, 2009, a total of
28,756 cubic meters of stored transuranic waste,
85.37cubic meters of remote-handled transuranic waste,
and 1,139 cubic meters of previously-buried transuranic
waste have been shipped from Idaho to the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico for disposal.
Idaho Cleanup Project
July 6: During a facility walk-down at the
Accelerated Retrieval Project-III Retrieval Enclosure,
it was discovered that the external copper grounding
cable from the equipment housing to the grounding rod
was cut off and missing. Further inspection of other
facilities at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex
revealed hundreds of feet of grounding cable from
various systems, buildings and trailers had been cut and
removed. It was determined the missing wire posed no
imminent worker safety issues, but an order was issued
regarding personnel actions to be taken when lightening
is in the area. INL Security was notified and
replacement cables and hardware were ordered.
(EM-ID-CWI-RWMC-2009-0005).
Operational Summary
American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
Activities: Exhumed an additional .02 acres of
targeted waste in the Accelerated Retrieval Project
(ARP) over Pit 6. The Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment
Project completed two shipments of ARRA low-level waste
to the Nevada Test Site, resulting in a cumulative total
volume of 333 cubic meters of low-level waste shipped
through July 12, 2009. ARRA-funded Decontamination and
Decommissioning (D&D) completed D&D of two additional
structures. To date, the ARRA has resulted in over 900
direct and secondary jobs in Eastern Idaho.
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Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Plant
employees who were hired with ARRA funds
recently spent two weeks at the Western
States Operation Engineers Institute of
Training where they received training on
equipment they will be using at AMWTP. |
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Idaho National Laboratory
July 6: While working on a chemical experiment at the
Research and Development Laboratory, a researcher
observed a small flash and felt warmth through his
glove. The flash and the reaction products were believed
to be contained by a glove bag that was placed over the
lid of the experiment container. The glass tube was
sealed and placed on the work bench to preserve the
material. Appropriate notifications were made and a
critique was conducted. (NE-ID-BEA-INLLABS-2009-0001).
July 8: While working to remove an out-of-service air
conditioning unit at the Advanced Test Reactor Complex,
workers discovered the raw water system piping inside
the work boundary to be pressurized. Work was stopped
and the condition was reported to the shift supervisor.
Management was notified and a critique was held.
(NE-ID-BEA-ATR-2009-0017).
July 9: While moving waste water drums at the
Specific Manufacturing Capability facility, it was
discovered that the drum handling tool’s annual
inspection had expired. No adverse affects were noted
during use. A hold was placed on drum lifting operations
until the annual inspection was performed.
(NE-ID—BEA-SMC-2009-00008).
July 15: A craft foreman noted that the lockout/tagout
permit for a specific job at the Advanced Test Reactor
had not been signed as completed. The lockout/tagout had
been installed for removal of the center flux trap
baffle at the ATR, and four work groups had signed the
lockout/tagout accepting it for work. The shift
supervisor stopped work on the job and verified that no
other work requiring lockout/tagout was in progress. A
critique was held. (NE-ID—BEA- ATR-2009-0018).
Operational Summary
INL Wins Three R&D 100 Awards: Researchers
from the Idaho National Laboratory earned three
prestigious R&D 100 Awards. The award-winning
technologies included: an automated portable device that
concentrates and packages a sample of suspected
contaminated water for efficient transport to a
qualified analytical laboratory; an innovation that
offers a low-cost, plug-n-play option that enables
virtually any wireless telecommunications device to
safely store sensitive personal information and perform
secure transactions; and a technology that efficiently
produces nanoparticles in uniform and prescribed sizes.
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