Idaho National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory is one of the national laboratories of the United States Department of Energy and is managed by the Battelle Memorial Institute. Historically, the lab has been involved with nuclear research, although the laboratory does other research as well. Much of the current knowledge of nuclear reactor behavior was discovered at what is now Idaho National Laboratory. John Grossenbacher, a former INL director, said, "The history of nuclear energy for peaceful application has principally been written in Idaho". The present facility resulted from the 2005 merger of two neighboring laboratories, the National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, and the Idaho site of the western branch of Argonne National Laboratory.
Various organizations have built more than 50 reactors at what is commonly called "the Site", including the ones that gave the world its first usable amount of electricity from nuclear power and the power plant for the world's first nuclear submarine. Although many are now decommissioned, these facilities are the largest concentration of reactors in the world.
It is on a complex in the high desert of eastern Idaho, between Arco to the west and Idaho Falls and Blackfoot to the east. Atomic City, Idaho is just south. The laboratory employs approximately 5,700 people.
History
What is now Idaho National Laboratory in southeastern Idaho began its life as a U.S. government artillery test range in the 1940s. Shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the U.S. military needed a safe location for performing maintenance on the Navy's most powerful turreted guns. The guns were brought in via rail to near Pocatello, Idaho, to be re-sleeved, rifled and tested. As the Navy began to focus on post-World War II and Cold War threats, the types of projects worked on in the Idaho desert changed, too. Perhaps the most well-known was the building of the prototype reactor for the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus.In 1949, the federal research facility was established as the National Reactor Testing Station. In 1975, the United States Atomic Energy Commission was divided into the Energy Research and Development Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Idaho site was renamed the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory in 1974. After two decades as INEL, the name was changed again to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory in 1997. Throughout its lifetime, there have been more than 50 one-of-a-kind nuclear reactors built by various organizations at the facility for testing; all but three are out of service.
On February 1, 2005, Battelle Energy Alliance took over operation of the lab from Bechtel, merged with Argonne National Laboratory-West, and the facility name was changed to "Idaho National Laboratory". At this time the site's clean-up activities were moved to a separate contract, the , which is currently managed by the Idaho Environmental Coalition, LLC. Research activities were consolidated in the newly named Idaho National Laboratory.
According to AP news reports in April 2018, a single barrel of "radioactive sludge" ruptured while being prepared for transport to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Southeast New Mexico for permanent storage. The 55-gallon barrel that ruptured is part of the badly-documented radioactive waste from the Rocky Flats Plant near Denver.
Access
In the Snake River Plain, most of INL is high desert with scrub vegetation and a number of facilities scattered throughout the area; the average elevation of the complex is above sea level. INL is accessible by U.S. Route 20 and U.S. Route 26, but most of the area is restricted to authorized personnel and requires appropriate security clearance. The tiny town of Atomic City is on the INL's southern border, and the Craters of the Moon National Monument is to the southwest.Research
Nuclear Energy Projects
Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP)
One part of this program to develop improved nuclear power plants is the "Next Generation Nuclear Plant" or NGNP, which would be the demonstration of a new way to use nuclear energy for more than electricity. The heat generated from nuclear fission in the plant could provide process heat for hydrogen production and other industrial purposes, while also generating electricity. And the NGNP would use a high-temperature gas reactor, which would have redundant safety systems that rely on natural physical processes more than human or mechanical intervention.INL worked with private industry to develop the NGNP between 2005 and 2011. It was commissioned to lead this effort by the United States Department of Energy as a result of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Since 2011, the project has languished and funding for it ceased. The design for this reactor is currently owned by Framatome.
Fuel Cycle Research & Development (FCRD)
The Fuel Cycle Research & Development program aims to help expand nuclear energy's benefits by addressing some of the issues inherent to the current life cycle of nuclear reactor fuel in the United States. These efforts strive to make nuclear energy's expansion safe, secure, economic and sustainable.Currently, the United States, like many other countries, employs an "open-ended" nuclear fuel cycle, whereby nuclear power plant fuel is used only once and then placed in a repository for indefinite storage. One of the primary FCRD goals is to research, develop and demonstrate ways to "close" the fuel cycle so fuel is reused or recycled rather than being shelved before all of its energy has been used. INL coordinates many of the FCRD's national research efforts, including:
- Continuing critical fuel cycle research and development activities
- Pursuing the development of policy and regulatory framework to support fuel cycle closure
- Developing deployable technologies
- Establishing advanced modeling and simulation program elements
- Implementing a science-based R&D program
Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program
The Program aims to safely and economically extend the service lives of the more than 100 electricity-generating nuclear power plants in the United States. The program brings together technical information, performs important research and organizes data to be used in license-extension applications.
Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility (ATR NSUF)
INL's Advanced Test Reactor is a research reactor located approximately from Idaho Falls, Idaho.The Department of Energy named Advanced Test Reactor a National Scientific User Facility in April 2007. This designation opened the facility to use by university-led scientific research groups and gives them free access to the ATR and other resources at INL and partner facilities. In addition to a rolling proposal solicitation with two closing dates each year, INL holds an annual "Users Week" and summer session to familiarize researchers with the user facility capabilities available to them.
Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP)
DOE's Nuclear Energy University Programs provide funding for university research grants, fellowships, scholarships and infrastructure upgrades.For example, in May 2010, the program awarded $38 million for 42 university-led R&D projects at 23 United States universities in 17 states. In FY 2009, the program awarded about $44 million to 71 R&D projects and more than $6 million in infrastructure grants to 30 U.S. universities and colleges in 23 states. INL's administers the program for DOE. CAES is a collaboration between INL and Idaho's three public research universities: Idaho State University, Boise State University and University of Idaho.
Multiphysics Methods Group (MMG)
The Multiphysics Methods Group is a program at Idaho National Laboratory begun in 2004. It uses applications based on the multiphysics and modeling framework MOOSE to simulate complex physical and chemical reactions inside nuclear reactors. The ultimate goal of the program is to use these simulation tools to enable more efficient use of nuclear fuel, resulting in lower electricity costs and less waste products.The MMG focuses on problems within nuclear reactors related to its fuel and how heat is transferred inside the reactor. "Fuel degradation" refers to how uranium pellets and the rods they are encased in eventually wear out over time due to high heat and irradiation inside a reactor. The group states three main objectives: "The mission of the MMG is to support the INL goal to advance the U.S. nuclear energy endeavor by:
- Furthering the state of computational nuclear engineering
- Developing a robust technical basis in multidimensional multiphysics analysis methods
- Developing the next generation of reactor simulation codes and tools"
National and Homeland Security
INL's National and Homeland Security division focuses on two main areas: protecting critical infrastructures such as electricity transmission lines, utilities and wireless communications networks, and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.Control systems cybersecurity
For nearly a decade, INL has been conducting vulnerability assessments and developing technology to increase infrastructure resilience. With a strong emphasis on industry collaboration and partnership, INL is enhancing electric grid reliability, control systems cybersecurity and physical security systems.INL conducts advanced cyber training and oversees simulated competitive exercises for national and international customers. The lab supports cyber security and control systems programs for the departments of Homeland Security, Energy and Defense. INL staff members are frequently asked to provide guidance and leadership to standards organizations, regulatory agencies and national policy committees.
In January 2011, it was reported by The New York Times that the INL was allegedly responsible for some of the initial research behind the Stuxnet virus, which allegedly crippled Iran's nuclear centrifuges. The INL, which teamed up with Siemens, conducted research on the P.C.S.-7 control system to identify its vulnerabilities. According to the Times, that information would later be used by the American and Israeli governments to create the Stuxnet virus.
The Times article was later disputed by other journalists, including Forbes blogger Jeffrey Carr, as being both sensational and lacking verifiable facts. In March 2011, Vanity Fair's magazine cover story on Stuxnet carried INL's official response, stating, "Idaho National Laboratory was not involved in the creation of the Stuxnet worm. In fact, our focus is to protect and defend control systems and critical infrastructures from cyber threats like Stuxnet and we are all well recognized for these efforts. We value the relationships that we have formed within the control systems industry and in no way would risk these partnerships by divulging confidential information."