Idaho Develops Innovative Control System to Support Calcine Disposition Project

Idaho Environmental Coalition electricians, from left, Jaron Day, Bryen Baret and Jon Petersen stand by a robotic control panel that will be used by the Calcine Disposition Project.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — An Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) team created state-of-the-art process control panels that will ensure coordinated operation of a waste retrieval system and robotic equipment hundreds of feet away.

The control system was designed and programmed by Ed Harlow, an instrumentation specialist with ICP contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC) with the help of other IEC employees. Harlow praised IEC and the Calcine Disposition Project management team for supporting his vision.

“They are always willing to adapt cutting-edge technology and provide the personnel to execute projects that quickly achieve mission goals,” said Harlow.

The technology uses redundant industrial computers to control the panels across a fiber-optic network. Using the control panels, Calcine Disposition Project staff members will be able to operate several pieces of equipment at the same time. Multiple panel connection ports on the control system also can be quickly reconfigured to accommodate the different equipment that will be required to safely remove the radioactive waste.

The project is tasked with developing retrieval, transfer and monitoring equipment that will allow engineers to transfer granulated calcine from large, concrete silos called bin sets for disposition. The team has focused on demonstrating the capability to transfer calcine from Bin Set #1 to Bin Set #6, but the technology developed by the team, like the process control panels, is adaptable to retrieve calcine from the other four bin sets.

Idaho Environmental Coalition employees, from left, Seth Robinson, Chris Wright, Tim Egan, Clark Speirs, Jon Petersen, Kade Sloup, Ed Harlow and Jaron Day stand next to the state-of-the-art process control panels developed for the Calcine Disposition Project.

Information and experience gained during the retrieval demonstrations will enable ICP to transfer the 4,400 cubic meters of calcine waste from the six bin sets. This high-level waste will be shipped out of Idaho in compliance with the 1995 Idaho Settlement Agreement.

Calcine is a dried byproduct of spent nuclear fuel processing that took place at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) from the early 1950s to 1992. The liquid waste generated during reprocessing runs was dried and transferred to the six large bin sets at the INTEC facility.

“These new, developed systems can be easily reconfigured for other equipment supporting other projects,” Harlow said. “In fact, with instruction, these panels could be used for a variety of field work — including mobilization and demobilization activities — throughout the U.S. Department of Energy complex.”

-Contributor: Erik Simpson