Idaho National Laboratory
The Idaho National Laboratory ( INL ) - now also Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory ( INEEL ) - is a US research facility of the Department of Energy . On the area about 30 km northwest of Idaho Falls , Idaho , research is being carried out on various aspects of the use of nuclear power and, since 2005, on environmental technology . On January 3, 1961, the site saw the first fatal accident in a nuclear reactor in the United States. From 1947 to the present day, 52 nuclear reactors have been built on the test site , three of which are still in operation in 2017.
The 2300 km² area lies on the level of the Snake River , the landscape is characterized by semi-desert, the vegetation by sagebrush . The first nuclear reactor to supply electricity, the Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I) and two prototypes of nuclear aircraft engines are open to the public .
Reactors
The site was established in 1947 as a branch of the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois under the name National Reactor Testing Station . The Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I) was the first research reactor . It began operations in 1951 and was shut down in 1963 after replacing the reactor core several times . On December 20, 1951, it was the first research reactor in the world to deliver electricity from nuclear power. However, it was not the first nuclear power plant in the world because it did not generate electricity commercially, but only for research purposes within the power plant. In 1953, the breeding process, which had only been predicted theoretically until then, could be demonstrated for the first time . It is designated as a National Historic Landmark , its building and the non-nuclear facilities, after removal of the radioactive components, are accessible to visitors.
In 1952, the first of a series of reactors went into operation, which served as a neutron source and source of ionizing radiation for materials research . They were used to test and improve materials and designs for pressurized water reactors and other nuclear facilities.
From 1953 experiments with boiling water reactors ( Boiling Water Reactor Experiments - BORAX experiments ) began: Five different reactors were built to research the construction and the safety of this type of reactor. BORAX-III was to a thermal output of 15 megawatts designed with a turbine - generator coupled unit having a rated power of 2,000 kW. On July 17, 1955, for the first time in the world, a city - nearby Arco - was supplied with electricity from nuclear energy.
In the same year, the first special design for the United States Navy became critical in the Naval Reactors Facility integrated into the INL . A prototype for a nuclear propulsion system for submarines called the S1W first ran on May 31, 1953. As early as September 30, 1954, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) became the world's first nuclear-powered ship. In the late 1950s the A1W reactor went into operation, a prototype for large nuclear-powered ships. During the year 1961, the first was nuclear cruiser , the USS Long Beach (CGN-9) , and the first aircraft carrier with nuclear propulsion , the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) , put into service. From 1965 S5G was developed, a pressurized water reactor, the coolant circuit of which can be kept in circulation either with pumps or, during slow and medium speeds, solely by natural convection . This not only increases reliability, but also eliminates the noise of the pumps, which can be decisive for submarines. The USS Narwhal (SSN-671) was equipped with an S5G in 1967. The systems were active until the mid-1990s, they were operated by Westinghouse on behalf of the DoE and the US Navy. Westinghouse continued to develop prototypes and improvements for nuclear ship propulsion systems for underwater and surface units.
Mid-1950s began the development of nuclear engines for aircraft ( Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion - ANP): These three prototypes were air-cooled reactors developed. In March 1961, President John F. Kennedy stopped the experiments.
Two reactors were built and operated at the Idaho National Laboratory for the Army Nuclear Power Program : The Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One (SL-1) was a particularly low-power reactor intended for supplying remote United States Army stations such as For example, radar stations in the Arctic with electrical energy and heat. In an accident on January 3, 1961 , three people who operated the reactor were killed. Radioactive 131 iodine escaped from the reactor building and contaminated the surroundings with 50-100 times the natural load, 80 km away in the wind direction the radiation level was twice the normal. The ML-1 and a prototype called the GCRE were experimental facilities for a portable, low-powered nuclear reactor that were tested between 1961 and 1964. Although the attempts were technically positive, the project was discontinued in 1965 because the Army saw no need for such systems and shied away from the costs of further development.
Erected from 1966 and critical since 1969 is the Advanced Test Reactor , a neutron source for research purposes and for the production of isotopes for medical and research purposes, including 60 cobalt and 238 plutonium for radioisotope generators in space travel . The system is still in operation today, with the essential components being replaced by more modern developments every eight to ten years during its service life of over 40 years. According to current plans, operation is planned until at least 2025.
In addition to the ATR, the ATRC is also running, a smaller reactor with auxiliary functions for ATR. The Argonne National Laboratory still operates the NRAD in the INL as a neutron source for radiography .
Reprocessing plant
Between 1953 and 1988 the INL had a reprocessing plant called Chem Plant , in which reusable substances were obtained from used nuclear fuel . The facility sourced used fuel assemblies from almost every state nuclear facility in the United States, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory , Hanford Site , Los Alamos National Laboratory , Battelle Institute, and Argonne National Laboratory .
A total of 31,432 kg of uranium has been recovered in the 35 years of operation.
Nuclear waste warehouse
The Idaho National Laboratory is now a large interim storage facility for nuclear waste. The nuclear fuel of all reactors of decommissioned nuclear-powered ships, the decommissioned reactors of the test site and parts of the nuclear waste generated during operation for almost 60 years are stored on the site. The waste from the nuclear weapons production facility in Rocky Flats , Colorado, which was closed in 1989 , is also processed in the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project .
Litigation between the state of Idaho and the federal government over the de facto conversion of the research site into a nuclear waste storage facility were initiated in the late 1980s and 1990s. Also involved were the Shoshone-Bannocks , through whose reservation one of the highways on which the garbage was transported leads. In 1999, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, a repository near Carlsbad , New Mexico, started operations and some of the waste that had been temporarily stored in the INL could be removed again.
The Navy's nuclear waste storage contract runs until 2035.
Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
Since 2005, all projects apart from the decontamination of the facilities and the storage of nuclear waste have been grouped under the name Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory . The location was given new tasks in environmental technology, renewable energy sources and national security, particularly in the protection of critical infrastructure .
The decontamination of the site was originally supposed to be completed by 2012. The goal cannot be achieved, a new date has not been named.
Web links
- Idaho National Laboratory (English)
- Idaho National Laboratory: Proving the Principle - Plant History from 1949 to 1999
Individual evidence
- ↑ bechtel corp: Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project
- ^ INL: Research Programs - Energy and Environment ( Memento from November 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ INL: Research Programs - National and Homeland Security ( Memento of November 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 43 ° 31'55.6 " N , 112 ° 56'31.9" W.