EM News

Following several buried waste exhumation projects in the 1970s, the DOE Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site tested technologies to allow for a larger waste retrieval effort and attempt to minimize the spread of contaminated soil.

Just months after the Experimental Breeder Reactor-I began generating electricity in December 1951 in a historic first, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site opened its first waste repository on the 890-square-mile Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) site.

DOE EM and State of Idaho officials gathered at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site to mark the completion of a high-priority cleanup project that helps protect the Snake River Plain Aquifer and maintains a commitment with the state of Idaho.

EM's fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget request of $7.64 billion reflects the strong commitment to clean up the environment in communities that historically supported or continue to support nuclear weapons programs and government-sponsored nuclear research.

The first batch of approximately 200,000 gallons of tank waste has been treated by the Hanford Site’s Tank-Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) System and is staged in a double-shell tank for immobilization in glass.

Representing more than 15% of EM’s annual budget, small business prime contractors and subcontractors contribute significantly to the cleanup program’s success at every one of its sites.

With small businesses a key contract component across the EM complex, prime contractors at the Hanford Site are collaborating to connect with potential subcontractors and offer firsthand assistance to small businesses.

Employees from Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) contractor Isotek recently supported a local middle school’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Night, which attracted hundreds of students and their family members.

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) oversaw the demonstration recently of a new radiological inspection technology called iGART.