Agency poised for phase 3 of cleanup at INL
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 10:44 AM PDT
IDAHO FALLS (AP) — The Idaho Cleanup Project is getting ready to enter its third phase, and this time crews are exploring how to deal with thousands of gallons of radioactive and hazardous waste stored for decades on the Idaho National Laboratory’s southern boundary.
The U.S. Department of Energy project proposes removing 2,200 cubic meters of waste from radioactive waste storage sites, repackaging it and sending it to the agency’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.
An analysis released Monday by the agency and CH2M-WG, the contractor hired to do the work, offers two options for dealing with the waste, each with different costs and health and environmental benefits.
The preferred option calls for exhuming thousands of boxes and drums loaded with contaminants. The other option, labeled the ‘‘No Action’’ alternative, calls for simple monitoring of the site. The report concludes no action would be cheaper, estimated at about $2.5 million, and would lead to less public and worker exposure to hazardous wastes in the short term.
