Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is one of the national laboratories of the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

and is managed by the Battelle Energy Alliance. While the laboratory does other research, historically it has been involved with nuclear research. Much of current knowledge about how nuclear reactors behave and misbehave was discovered at what is now Idaho National Laboratory. John Grossenbacher, former INL director, said, "The history of nuclear energy for peaceful application has principally been written in Idaho". Various organizations have built more than 50 reactors at what is commonly called "the Site", including the ones that gave the world its first usable amount of electricity from nuclear power and the power plant for the world's first nuclear submarine. Although many are now decommissioned, these facilities are the largest concentration of reactors in the world. It is on a complex in the high desert of

eastern Idaho Eastern Idaho is the area of Idaho lying east of the Magic Valley region. It is generally understood to include: Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Bonneville, Butte, Caribou, Clark, Custer, Franklin, Fremont, Jefferson, Madison, Oneida, Power an ...

, between

Arco ARCO ( ) is a brand of gasoline stations currently owned by Marathon Petroleum after BP sold its rights. BP commercializes the brand in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, while Marathon has rights for the rest of the United States an ...

to the west and

Idaho Falls Idaho Falls (Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: Dembimbosaage) is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. It is the state's largest city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 Un ...

and

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bla ...

to the east.

Atomic City, Idaho Atomic City is a city in Bingham County, Idaho, United States. The population was 41 at the 2020 census, up from 29 in 2010.Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the U.S. military needed a safe location for performing maintenance on the Navy's most powerful turreted guns. The guns were brought in via rail to near Pocatello, Idaho, to be re-sleeved, rifled and tested. As the Navy began to focus on post-World War II and

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

threats, the types of projects worked on in the Idaho desert changed, too. Perhaps the most well-known was the building of the prototype reactor for the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus. In 1949, the federal research facility was established as the National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS). In 1975, the

United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President H ...

(AEC) was divided into the

Energy Research and Development Administration The United States Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) was a United States government organization formed from the split of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1975. It assumed the functio ...

(ERDA) and the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy. Established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the NRC began operat ...

(NRC). The Idaho site was for a short time named ERDA and then subsequently renamed to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) in 1977 with the creation of the

(DOE) under President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

. After two decades as INEL, the name was changed again to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) in 1997. Throughout its lifetime, there have been more than 50 one-of-a-kind

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nu ...

s built by various organizations at the facility for testing; all but three are out of service. On February 1, 2005, Battelle Energy Alliance took over operation of the lab from

Bechtel Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. , the ''Engineering News-Record'' ranked Bechtel as the sec ...

, merged with

Argonne National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory operated by University of Chicago, UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facil ...

-West, and the facility name was changed to "Idaho National Laboratory" (INL). At this time the site's clean-up activities were moved to a separate contract, th
Idaho Cleanup Project
which is currently managed by the Idaho Environmental Coalition , LLC. Research activities were consolidated in the newly named Idaho National Laboratory. According to AP news reports in April 2018, a single barrel of "radioactive sludge" ruptured while being prepared for transport to the

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, is the world's third deep geological repository (after Germany's Repository for radioactive waste Morsleben and the Schacht Asse II salt mine) licensed to store transuranic radioactive waste for 10,00 ...

in Southeast New Mexico for permanent storage. The 55-gallon barrel that ruptured is part of the badly-documented radioactive waste from the Rocky Flats Plant near Denver.

Access

In the Snake River Plain, most of INL is high desert with scrub vegetation and a number of facilities scattered throughout the area; the average

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of the complex is above sea level. INL is accessible by

U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

, and

U.S. Route 26 U.S. Route 26 (US 26) is an east–west United States highway that runs from Seaside, Oregon to Ogallala, Nebraska. When the U.S. highway system was first defined, it was limited to Nebraska and Wyoming; by the 1950s, it continued into Idaho and ...

, but most of the area (except

Experimental Breeder Reactor I Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I) is a decommissioned research reactor and U.S. National Historic Landmark located in the desert about southeast of Arco, Idaho. It was the world's first breeder reactor. At 1:50 p.m. on December 20, ...

) is restricted to authorized personnel and requires appropriate

security clearance A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information (state or organizational secrets) or to restricted areas, after completion of a thorough background check. The term "security clearance" is ...

. The tiny town of Atomic City is on the INL's southern border, and the

Craters of the Moon National Monument Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a U.S. national monument and national preserve in the Snake River Plain in central Idaho. It is along US 20 ( concurrent with US 93 and US 26), between the small towns of Arco and Carey, at a ...

is to the southwest.

Research

Nuclear Energy Projects

Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP)

One part of this program to develop improved nuclear power plants is the "

Next Generation Nuclear Plant A Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) is a specific proposed generation IV reactor, generation IV very-high-temperature reactor (VHTR) that could be coupled to a neighboring hydrogen production facility. It could also produce electricity and supp ...

" or NGNP, which would be the demonstration of a new way to use nuclear energy for more than electricity. The heat generated from nuclear fission in the plant could provide process heat for

hydrogen production Hydrogen production is the family of industrial methods for generating hydrogen gas. As of 2020, the majority of hydrogen (∼95%) is produced from fossil fuels by steam reforming of natural gas and other light hydrocarbons, partial oxidation of h ...

and other industrial purposes, while also generating electricity. And the NGNP would use a high-temperature gas reactor, which would have redundant safety systems that rely on natural physical processes more than human or mechanical intervention. INL worked with private industry to develop the NGNP between 2005 and 2011. It was commissioned to lead this effort by the United States Department of Energy as a result of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Since 2011, the project has languished and funding for it ceased. The design for this reactor is currently owned by Framatome.

Fuel Cycle Research & Development (FCRD)

The Fuel Cycle Research & Development program aims to help expand nuclear energy's benefits by addressing some of the issues inherent to the current life cycle of nuclear reactor fuel in the United States. These efforts strive to make nuclear energy's expansion safe, secure, economic and sustainable. Currently, the United States, like many other countries, employs an "open-ended" nuclear fuel cycle, whereby nuclear power plant fuel is used only once and then placed in a repository for indefinite storage. One of the primary FCRD goals is to research, develop and demonstrate ways to "close" the fuel cycle so fuel is reused or recycled rather than being shelved before all of its energy has been used. INL coordinates many of the FCRD's national research efforts, including: * Continuing critical fuel cycle research and development (R&D) activities * Pursuing the development of policy and regulatory framework to support fuel cycle closure * Developing deployable technologies * Establishing advanced modeling and simulation program elements * Implementing a science-based R&D program

Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program

The

Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program The Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program is a U.S. government research and development program. It is directed by the United States Department of Energy and is aimed at performing research and compiling data necessary to qualify for licenses ...

supports national efforts to do the research and gather the information necessary to demonstrate whether it is safe and prudent to apply for extensions beyond 60 years of operating life. The Program aims to safely and economically extend the service lives of the more than 100 electricity-generating nuclear power plants in the United States. The program brings together technical information, performs important research and organizes data to be used in license-extension applications.

Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility (ATR NSUF)

INL's Advanced Test Reactor is a research reactor located approximately from Idaho Falls, Idaho. The Department of Energy named

Advanced Test Reactor The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) is a research reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory, located east of Arco, Idaho. This reactor was designed and is used to test nuclear fuels and materials to be used in power plants, naval propulsion, research ...

(ATR) a National Scientific User Facility in April 2007. This designation opened the facility to use by university-led scientific research groups and gives them free access to the ATR and other resources at INL and partner facilities. In addition to a rolling proposal solicitation with two closing dates each year, INL holds an annual "Users Week" and summer session to familiarize researchers with the user facility capabilities available to them.

Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP)

DOE's Nuclear Energy University Programs provide funding for university research grants, fellowships, scholarships and infrastructure upgrades. For example, in May 2010, the program awarded $38 million for 42 university-led R&D projects at 23 United States universities in 17 states. In FY 2009, the program awarded about $44 million to 71 R&D projects and more than $6 million in infrastructure grants to 30 U.S. universities and colleges in 23 states. INL'
Center for Advanced Energy Studies
administers the program for DOE. CAES is a collaboration between INL and Idaho's three public research universities: Idaho State University, Boise State University and University of Idaho.

Multiphysics Methods Group (MMG)

The Multiphysics Methods Group (MMG) is a program at Idaho National Laboratory (under the

) begun in 2004. It uses applications based on the

multiphysics In computational modelling, multiphysics simulation (often shortened to simply "multiphysics") is defined as the simultaneous simulation of different aspects of a physical system or systems and the interactions among them. For example, simultaneous ...

and modeling framework

MOOSE The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

to simulate complex physical and chemical reactions inside

s . The ultimate goal of the program is to use these simulation tools to enable more efficient use of nuclear fuel, resulting in lower electricity costs and less

waste products Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor Value (economics), economic v ...

. The MMG focuses on problems within nuclear reactors related to its fuel and how heat is transferred inside the reactor. "Fuel degradation" refers to how uranium pellets and the rods they are encased in (several rods bundled together is what makes a "fuel assembly") eventually wear out over time due to high heat and irradiation inside a reactor. The group states three main objectives: "The mission of the MMG is to support the INL goal to advance the U.S. nuclear energy endeavor by: * Furthering the state of computational nuclear engineering * Developing a robust technical basis in multidimensional multiphysics analysis methods * Developing the next generation of reactor simulation codes and tools" The work done by the group directly supports programs such as the

's research into advanced nuclear fuels.

National and Homeland Security

INL's National and Homeland Security division focuses on two main areas: protecting critical infrastructures such as electricity transmission lines, utilities and wireless communications networks, and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Control systems cybersecurity

For nearly a decade, INL has been conducting vulnerability assessments and developing technology to increase infrastructure resilience. With a strong emphasis on industry collaboration and partnership, INL is enhancing electric grid reliability, control systems cybersecurity and physical security systems. INL conducts advanced cyber training and oversees simulated competitive exercises for national and international customers. The lab supports cyber security and control systems programs for the departments of

Homeland Security Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" t ...

Energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

and

Defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

. INL staff members are frequently asked to provide guidance and leadership to standards organizations, regulatory agencies and national policy committees. In January 2011, it was reported by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' that the INL was allegedly responsible for some of the initial research behind the

Stuxnet Stuxnet is a malicious computer worm first uncovered in 2010 and thought to have been in development since at least 2005. Stuxnet targets supervisory control and data acquisition ( SCADA) systems and is believed to be responsible for causing su ...

virus, which allegedly crippled Iran's nuclear centrifuges. The INL, which teamed up with

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

, conducted research on the P.C.S.-7 control system to identify its vulnerabilities. According to the ''Times'', that information would later be used by the American and Israeli governments to create the Stuxnet virus. The ''Times'' article was later disputed by other journalists, including Forbes blogger Jeffrey Carr, as being both sensational and lacking verifiable facts. In March 2011, Vanity Fair's magazine cover story on Stuxnet carried INL's official response, stating, "Idaho National Laboratory was not involved in the creation of the Stuxnet worm. In fact, our focus is to protect and defend control systems and critical infrastructures from cyber threats like Stuxnet and we are all well recognized for these efforts. We value the relationships that we have formed within the control systems industry and in no way would risk these partnerships by divulging confidential information."

Nuclear nonproliferation

Building on INL's nuclear mission and legacy in reactor design and operations, the lab's engineers are developing technology, shaping policy and leading initiatives to secure the nuclear fuel cycle and prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Under the direction of the National Nuclear Security Administration, INL and other national laboratory scientists are leading a global initiative to secure foreign stockpiles of fresh and spent highly enriched uranium and return it to secure storage for processing. Other engineers are working to convert U.S. research reactors and build new reactor fuels that replace highly enriched uranium with a safer, low-enriched uranium fuel. To protect against threats from the dispersal of nuclear and radiological devices, INL researchers also examine radiological materials to understand their origin and potential uses. Others have applied their knowledge to the development of detection technologies that scan and monitor containers for nuclear materials. The laboratory's expansive desert location, nuclear facilities and wide range of source materials provide an ideal training location for military responders, law enforcement and other civilian first responders. INL routinely supports these organizations by leading classroom training, conducting field exercises and assisting in technology assessments.

Energy and environmental projects

Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity

INL's Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity gathers information from more than 4000 plug-in-hybrid vehicles. These vehicles, operated by a wide swath of companies, local and state governments, advocacy groups, and others are located all across the United States, Canada and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Together, they've logged a combined 1.5 million miles worth of data that are analyzed by specialists at INL. Dozens of other types of vehicles, like hydrogen-fueled and pure electric cars, are also tested at INL. This data will help evaluate the performance and other factors that will be critical to widespread adoption of plug-in or other alternative vehicles.

Bioenergy

INL researchers are partnering with farmers, agricultural equipment manufacturers and universities to optimize the logistics of an industrial-scale biofuel economy. Agricultural waste products — such as wheat straw; corncobs, stalks or leaves; or bioenergy crops such as switchgrass or miscanthus — could be used to create cellulosic biofuels. INL researchers are working to determine the most economic and sustainable ways to get biofuel raw materials from fields to biorefineries.

Robotics

INL's robotics program researches, builds, tests and refines robots that, among other things, clean up dangerous wastes, measure radiation, scout drug-smuggling tunnels, aid search-and-rescue operations, and help protect the environment. These robots roll, crawl, fly, and go under water, even in swarms that communicate with each other on the go to do their jobs.

Biological Systems

The Biological Systems department is housed in 15 laboratories with a total of at the INL Research Center in Idaho Falls. The department engages in a wide variety of biological studies, including studying bacteria and other microbes that live in extreme conditions such as the extremely high temperature pools of Yellowstone National Park. These types of organisms could boost the efficiency of biofuels production. Other studies related to uncommon microbes have potential in areas such as carbon dioxide sequestration and groundwater cleanup.

Hybrid energy systems

INL is pioneering the research and testing associated with hybrid energy systems that combine multiple energy sources for optimum carbon management and energy production. For example, a nuclear reactor could provide electricity when certain renewable resources aren't available, while also providing a carbon-free source of heat and hydrogen that could be used, for example, to make liquid transportation fuels from coal.

Nuclear waste processing

In , construction of a new liquid waste processing facility, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU), was nearing completion at INTEC on the INL site. It will process approximately 900,000 gallons of liquid nuclear waste using a steam reforming process to produce a granular product suitable for disposal. The facility is the first of its kind and based on a scaled prototype. The project is a part of the Department of Energy's Idaho Cleanup Project aimed at removing waste and demolishing old nuclear facilities at the INL site.

Safety and Tritium Applied Research

In May 2022, CNBC reported the Safety and Tritium Applied Research (STAR) program has been set up to looking into the production and safety protocols for working with

tritium Tritium ( or , ) or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with half-life about 12 years. The nucleus of tritium (t, sometimes called a ''triton'') contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus o ...

, the fuel that many startups are working on to commercialize

fusion power Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices de ...

Interdisciplinary projects

The Instrumentation, Control and Intelligent Systems (ICIS) Distinctive Signature supports mission-related research and development in key capability areas: safeguards and control system security, sensor technologies, intelligent automation, human systems integration, and robotics and intelligent systems. These five key areas support the INL mission to "ensure the nation's energy security with safe, competitive, and sustainable energy systems and unique national and

homeland security Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" t ...

." Through its grand challenge in resilient control systems, ICIS research is providing a holistic approach to aspects of design that have often been bolt-on, including human systems, security and modeling of complex interdependency.

Outreach

Scholarships and grants

INL supports science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in classrooms across the state. Each year, the lab invests nearly $500,000 in Idaho teachers and students. Funding goes toward scholarship programs for high school graduates, technical college students and teachers who want to integrate more hands-on science activities into their lessons. INL also provides thousands of dollars worth of classroom grants to teachers seeking to upgrade their science equipment or lab infrastructure.

Internships

The lab hires more than 300 interns each summer to work alongside laboratory employees. INL is listed by Vault, the online job resource site, as one of the best places in the U.S. to get an internship Internships are offered to high school, undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students in applicable fields including science, engineering, math, chemistry, business, communication and other fields.

Small business outreach

In addition to subcontracting more than $100 million worth of work from Idaho's small businesses, INL technologies are often licensed to new or existing companies for commercialization. In the past 10 years, INL has negotiated roughly 500 technology licenses. And INL technology has spawned more than 40 start-up companies since 1995. Small businesses that contract with the lab can participate in a Department of Energy program designed to enhance their capabilities. INL has worked with a variety of small businesses in this mentoring capacity, including International Management Solutions and Portage Environmental.

Facilities

Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) complex

INL's

is much smaller than the more common electricity-producing reactors — the reactor vessel measures across and high, with the core a mere tall and across, and it does not generate electricity. As a special feature, it allows scientists to simultaneously test materials in multiple unique experimental environments. Research scientists can place experiments in one of the more than 70 test positions in the reactor. Each can generate unique experimental conditions. Some have called the reactor a "virtual time machine", for its ability to demonstrate the effects of several years of radiation on materials in a fraction of the time. The ATR allows scientists to place a variety of materials in an environment with specified intensities of radiation, temperature, and pressure. Specimens are then removed to examine how the time in the reactor affected the materials. The U.S. Navy is the facility's primary user, but the ATR also produces medical isotopes that can help treat cancer patients and industrial isotopes that can be used for radiography to x-ray welds on items such as skyscrapers, bridges and ship holds. Many ATR experiments focus on materials that could make the next generation of nuclear reactors even safer and longer lasting.

Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC)

Hot Fuel Examination Facility

The Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF) gives INL researchers and other scientists the ability to examine and test highly radioactive irradiated reactor fuel and other materials. HFEF provides 15 state-of-the-art workstations known as hot cells. For windows, each cell has leaded glass panes layered thick and separated by thin layers of oil. Remote manipulators allow users to maneuver items inside the hot cell using robotic arms. Special filtered exhaust systems keep indoor and outdoor air safe. At these stations, scientists and technicians can better determine the performance of irradiated fuels and materials. Scientists can also characterize materials destined for long-term storage at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.

Space and Security Power Systems Facility

The

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research ...

mission to

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

, which launched in 2006, is powered by a device fueled at the INL Space and Security Power Systems Facility. The Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) uses nonfissionable nonweapons-grade plutonium to produce heat and electricity for deep space missions such as this one. Using the RTG on the New Horizons mission is a more practical power source for the satellite than solar panels because the satellite will travel to such a great distance that energy from the sun would provide insufficient power for the craft. Work on the project started in late 2004 and ended with the January 2006 successful rocket launch. The team implemented the fueling, testing and delivery of the RTG for the Pluto New Horizons mission and for the next Mars rover.

Fuel Conditioning Facility

INL's Fuel Conditioning Facility uses electrolysis to separate certain components from used nuclear fuel rods. Unlike traditional aqueous reprocessing techniques, which dissolve the fuel rods in acid, "pyroprocessing" melts the rods and uses electricity to separate components such as uranium and sodium out of the mix. INL is using this technique to remove the sodium metal from

Experimental Breeder Reactor II Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) is a sodium-cooled fast reactor designed, built and operated by Argonne National Laboratory at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho.

(EBR-II) fuel rods so they can be safely stored in a national repository.

= Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT)

= The

Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) The Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) is an air-cooled, graphite moderated, thermal spectrum test nuclear reactor designed to test reactor fuels and structural materials. Constructed in 1958, and operated from 1959 until 1994, TREAT wa ...

is a reactor designed specifically to test new reactor fuels and materials.

Radiochemistry Lab

The Radiochemistry Lab is a facility that includes one radiation instrumentation lab, two actinide chemistry labs, and other labs for both radiological and non-radiological research.

Critical Infrastructure Test Range Complex (CITRC)

INL's Critical Infrastructure Test Range Complex (CITRC), operated by INL, is a utility-scale electric power grid test bed. The electric grid is an operational, commercially-fed system that provides power to all of INL's key research facilities on its sprawling, desert site; and includes: seven substations, a 24/7 manned dispatch and control center, 61 miles of 138kV transmission lines, and multiple distribution circuits at 15kV, 25kV and 35kV. Sections of the grid can be isolated and reconfigured for integrated testing and demonstration of state of the art power systems, components and smart grid technologies. In addition, INL owns and operates a communications network designed to research and test cellular, mobile and emerging Internet communication protocols and technology, with both fixed and mobile 3-G platforms that allow testing and demonstration within a range of experimental frequencies in a low-background environment.

Research and Education Campus in Idaho Falls

Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES)

This partnership between INL and Idaho's three public research universities —

Idaho State University , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The Universit ...

, and

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding ...

— boasts a wealth of research expertise. Its researchers, who have access to each partner institution's equipment and infrastructure, have competed for and won millions of dollars in national funding for their projects. CAES possesses capabilities and infrastructure unique to the region and nation. The center's laboratories are equipped with state-of-the-art research instruments and tools, including a Local Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP) and a Computer Assisted Virtual Environment (CAVE).

Matched Index of Refraction (MIR) facility

The Matched Index of Refraction facility is the largest such facility in the world. Using light mineral oil, the facility allows researchers to use fused quartz models built to scale to study the flow of liquids inside and around objects with complicated geometries, such as the core of a nuclear reactor. The facility is basically a giant loop through which the mostly transparent oil is pumped at variable speeds. Special lasers perform "Doppler velocimetry", that produces a three-dimensional image allowing inspection of an object's flow properties. Observers can also watch the flow themselves through the polycarbonate viewing panes near the laser equipment
Video: Matched Index of Refraction Flow Facility

Geocentrifuge

INL's geocentrifuge helps researchers, among other efforts, improve models of how liquids and contaminants move through engineered caps and barriers used in underground waste disposal facilities. The INL centrifuge is one of fewer than 25 geocentrifuges larger than two meters (about 6 feet) in the United States. The centrifuge, located next to the INL Research Center in Idaho Falls, can be operated remotely by computer and is capable of applying 130 times the force of earth's gravity on a sample. Many of the experiments that use the geocentrifuge require it to run for hundreds of hours in order to correctly simulate several years' worth of gravitational effects. The payload is monitored by an onboard computer and can be relayed to a remote monitoring station outside the centrifuge's chamber where technicians can observe developments.

Earlier Projects

Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I)

In the early afternoon of December 20, 1951,

scientist

Walter Zinn Walter Henry Zinn (December 10, 1906 – February 14, 2000) was an American nuclear physicist who was the first director of the Argonne National Laboratory from 1946 to 1956. He worked at the Manhattan Project's Metallurgical Laboratory during W ...

and a small crew of assistants witnessed a row of four light bulbs light up in a nondescript brick building in the eastern Idaho desert. Electricity from a generator connected to Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I) flowed through them. This was the first time that a usable amount of electrical power had ever been generated from nuclear fission. Only days afterward, the reactor produced all the electricity needed for the entire EBR complex. One ton of natural uranium can produce more than 40 million kilowatt-hours of electricity — this is equivalent to burning 16,000 tons of coal or 80,000 barrels of oil. More central to EBR-I's purpose than just generating electricity, however, was its role in proving that a reactor could create more nuclear fuel as a by-product than it consumed during operation. In 1953, tests verified that this was the case. The site of this event is memorialized as a Registered

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

, open to the public every day

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

through

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II)

From 1969 to 1994,

's EBR-II produced nearly half of the electricity needed for test site operations. In 1964,

and the nearby Fuel Conditioning Facility proved the concept of fuel recycling and passive safety characteristics. So-called "passive" safety includes systems that rely on natural physics laws such as gravity rather than systems that require mechanical or human intervention. In a landmark test on April 3, 1986, such systems in EBR-II demonstrated that nuclear power plants could be designed to be inherently safe from severe accidents. De-commissioning of EBR-II began in October 1994 with the removal of the 637 fuel assemblies.

Loss of Fluid Test (LOFT) facility

The world's first Loss-of-Fluid-Test reactor started up at INL on March 12, 1976. It repeatedly simulated loss-of-coolant accidents that could potentially occur in commercial nuclear power plants. Many safety designs for reactors around the world are based on these tests. LOFT experiments helped accident recovery efforts after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979.

Test Area North

In 1949, an area of the fringe of the NRTS property named "Test Area North", or TAN, was developed by the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

and the Atomic Energy Commission to support the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program's attempt to develop a nuclear-powered aircraft. The program's Heat Transfer Reactor Experiments (HTRE) were conducted here in 1955 by contractor

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

, and were a series of tests to develop a system of transferring reactor-heated air to a modified

General Electric J47 The General Electric J47 turbojet (GE company designation TG-190) was developed by General Electric from its earlier J35. It first flew in May 1948. The J47 was the first axial-flow turbojet approved for commercial use in the United States. It ...

jet engine. The planned aircraft, the

Convair X-6 The Convair X-6 was a proposed experimental aircraft project to develop and evaluate a nuclear-powered jet aircraft. The project was to use a Convair B-36 bomber as a testbed aircraft, and though one NB-36H was modified during the early stage ...

, was to be test flown at TAN, and a large hangar with radiation shielding was built on the site. The program was cancelled, however, before the accompanying runway could be built.

Naval Reactors Facility (NRF)

In the early 1950s, the very first full-scale prototype nuclear plant for shipboard use, called S1W Prototype, was constructed to test the feasibility of using

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

aboard submarines. It was the predecessor to a similar nuclear plant of

S2W The S2W reactor was a United States Naval reactor, naval reactor used by the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and Nuclear marine propulsion, propulsion on warships. The S2W designation stands for: * S = Submarine platform * 2 ...

design installed in the first nuclear-powered ship, the submarine . Later, two more prototype plant facilities, A1W and S5G, were built at this location called the

Naval Reactors Facility The Naval Reactors Facility (NRF) is located 52 miles northwest of Idaho Falls, Idaho. The NRF is a United States Department of Energy-Naval Reactors facility where three nuclear propulsion prototypes A1W, S1W and S5G were located. It is contra ...

(NRF for short). There is also an Expended Core Facility (ECF for short) also at NRF as well as administrative buildings/facilities. NRF's chemistry lab was located at the S1W prototype. By now, the prototype plants for shipboard use development have been shut down. Only the Expended Core Facility / Dry Storage Area is in use.

Materials Test Reactor (MTR)

When the nuclear industry was just getting started in the early 1950s, it was difficult to predict exactly how different kinds of metals and other materials would be affected by being used in a reactor for prolonged periods of time. MTR was a research reactor jointly designed by Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories that operated until 1970 and provided important data, helping researchers make nuclear power reactors safer and longer lasting.

BORAX experiments

The Boiling Water Reactors (BORAX) experiments were five reactors built between 1953 and 1964 by

. They proved that the boiling water concept was a feasible design for an electricity-producing nuclear reactor. The BORAX III reactor was also the first in the world to power a community (

Arco, Idaho Arco is a city in Butte County, Idaho, Butte County, Idaho, United States. The population was 879 as of the 2020 United States census, down from 995 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Arco is the county seat and largest city in Butte ...

) on July 17, 1955.

Other sites

The Idaho Chemical Processing Plant chemically processed material from used reactor cores to recover reusable nuclear material. It is now called the . The Materials Test Area tested materials' exposure to reactor conditions. The Materials Test Area is part of the Advanced Test Reactor Complex. The Information Operations and Research Center and the Shelley-New Sweden Park and Ride lot is one of fourteen Federal properties listed for disposal by the Public Buildings Reform Board in their 2019 recommendations.

Incidents and accidents

1961 fatal incident

On January 3, 1961, the only fatal nuclear reactor incident in the U.S. occurred at the NRTS. An experimental reactor called

SL-1 Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One, also known as SL-1 or the Argonne Low Power Reactor (ALPR), was a United States Army experimental nuclear reactor in the western United States at the National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS), later the ...

(Stationary Low-Power Plant Number 1) was destroyed when a control rod was pulled too far out of the reactor, leading to a near-instantaneous prompt-critical power excursion and steam explosion. The reactor vessel jumped up . The concussion and blast killed all three military enlisted personnel working on the reactor. Due to the extensive radioactive

isotope Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers (mass numbers) ...

contamination, all three were buried in lead coffins. The events are the subject of two books, one published in 2003, ''Idaho Falls: The untold story of America's first nuclear accident'', and another, ''Atomic America: How a Deadly Explosion and a Feared Admiral Changed the Course of Nuclear History'', published in 2009.

"Plutonium-related" container leak

On the afternoon of November 8, 2011, in the Zero Power Physics Reactor (ZPPR), a container leaked "plutonium-related" materials, when it was opened by one of the workers. All 17 workers at the incident were immediately taken to have testing done by the Idaho Cleanup Project in the form of Whole Body Counts (scans the body for any internal radiation exposure) and were required to submit urine and fecal samples to further test for internal radioisotopes. Six of them proved to be exposed to "low-level-radiation", two of them fairly extensively. All workers were kept under close observation afterwards with repeated Whole Body Counts and urine and fecal sampling. The Idaho National Laboratory insisted that no radioactivity leaked outside the facility.

2018 Radioactive Waste “Drum Breach” Accidents

In April 2018, four canisters of depleted uranium sludge suddenly overpressurized and ejected their lids at a US Department of Energy facility at Idaho National Laboratory. The waste had originated from the now-decommissioned Rocky Flats weapons plutonium production plant. In 2018, anthropologist Vincent Ialenti conducted fieldwork in Idaho exploring the accident’s root causes. Comparing the accident to a 2014 drum breach accident at the WIPP nuclear waste repository in New Mexico, Ialenti attributed Idaho’s drum breaches to “systemic incentives to speed up waste-cleanup projects beyond their organizational capacity, without commensurately expanding their safety or oversight mechanisms.”

References

External links

*
Battelle Web siteIdaho Cleanup Project
page at

Fluor Corporation Fluor Corporation is an American multinational engineering and construction firm headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a holding company that provides services through its subsidiaries in the following areas: oil and gas, industrial and infrastru ...

Annotated bibliography for the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
*

Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HAER) documentation, filed under Scoville, Butte County, ID: ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Bingham County, Idaho Buildings and structures in Bonneville County, Idaho Buildings and structures in Butte County, Idaho Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Idaho Historic American Engineering Record in Idaho Historic American Landscapes Survey in Idaho United States Department of Energy national laboratories Federally Funded Research and Development Centers National Laboratory Superfund sites in Idaho Battelle Memorial Institute Nuclear reprocessing sites Nuclear fuel infrastructure in the United States Research institutes in Idaho