The 890 square-mile Idaho National Laboratory Site (INL), located in southeastern Idaho, was first established in 1952 as the National Reactor Testing Station. The original mission of the INL site was to develop and test civilian and defense nuclear reactor technologies and manage spent nuclear fuel. Fifty-two reactors — most of them first of a kind — were built at the site, including the Navy’s first prototype nuclear propulsion plant. Of the 52 reactors, four remain in operation.
Employees supporting the spent nuclear fuel wet-to-dry project at the Idaho National Laboratory Site celebrate the last fuel elements removed from a water-filled basin within a building at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center. Crews completed the 1995 Idaho Settlement Agreement milestone more than nine months ahead of schedule.
Idaho News
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Cleanup crews transferred more than 20,000 gallons of radioactive liquid waste to reduce the environmental footprint of three underground waste tanks at the Idaho National Laboratory Site.May 20, 2025
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Idaho Cleanup Project personnel were so impressed with an inventive robotic technology during its demonstration recently that they immediately put it to work confirming the integrity of thousands of legacy waste drums, enabling their safe shipment to WIPPApril 15, 2025
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The Idaho Cleanup Project has logged a series of performance and cost efficiency victories, allowing it to reinvest associated savings into more cleanup work.April 15, 2025
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The Idaho Cleanup Project team recently celebrated 7,500 transuranic waste shipments from the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.April 1, 2025
Nicholas Balsmeier currently serves as the acting manager for the Idaho Cleanup Project, responsible for the management and oversight of the treatment, storage, and disposition of a variety of radioactive and hazardous waste streams, removal and disposition of targeted buried waste, and the removal of DOE’s inventory of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste from Idaho.
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High-Level Budget Information
| FY22 Enacted (In the millions) | FY23 Request (In the millions) | FY23 Enacted (In the millions) | FY24 Request (in the millions) | FY24 Enacted (in the millions) | FY25 Request (in the millions) |
| $454 | $391 | $472 | $459 | $490 | $471 |
For more information on the Office of Environmental Management's budget process and performance check out the Budget & Performance page.