Crews Modify Facility to Make Spent Fuel ‘Road Ready’ for Removal From Idaho

This series of photos offers a glimpse into the first of many modifications to get spent nuclear fuel “road ready” for future shipment out of Idaho. Crews installed a new insert into a transfer car that moves large casks containing spent nuclear fuel through a storage area.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Crews with the Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) successfully completed the first of many modifications to a legacy facility to get spent nuclear fuel “road ready” for future shipment out of state.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) and cleanup contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition LLC (IEC) installed a large cask insert into a transfer car at the Irradiated Fuel Storage Facility.

The insert, installed into a transfer car that moves large casks containing spent nuclear fuel through a storage area, will support the Road Ready Demonstration Project. In the project, workers will remove the spent fuel from storage and package it into transportable road ready systems for removal in accordance with an agreement between DOE and the state.

The Road Ready Demonstration Project will transfer spent nuclear fuel to a storage configuration safe for transport for permanent disposal.

The process of installing the insert spanned several months, beginning with modifications to the insert itself. Fabricators installed a turntable on the insert base to enable future maintenance and improve operations during large cask projects.

Crews followed strict radiological and safety protocols to remove the previous spent fuel transfer car insert and bolt the new one to the transfer car. That car moves casks through a below-grade pit to a location where spent nuclear fuel is handled remotely and prepared for storage.

The new insert will allow crews to handle large casks as heavy as 130 tons for packaging anticipated fuel types. The transfer car will continue to support an existing mission to place spent nuclear fuel from the Advanced Test Reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory Site into dry storage.

“I am incredibly proud of our spent nuclear fuel projects team for completing this phase of our road ready project,” IEC President and Program Manager Dan Coyne said. “We take our commitments to the state seriously and this group is bringing us one step closer to achieving our ultimate goal.”

ICP has begun the next phase of modifications, including changes to the facility’s truck bay. In coming months, the existing truck bay ramp will be backfilled and replaced with a level concrete floor for future equipment staging.

Planned modifications will improve the facility’s ability to support the Road Ready Demonstration Project and allow EM workers to safely advance DOE’s spent nuclear fuel mission.

-Contributor: Carter Harrison