Fluor Idaho reports cleanup progress
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - 100 drums of radioactive sludge waste has been treated and repackaged at the Accelerated Retrieval Project VII at the Idaho National Laboratory Site.
Fluor Idaho reports about 2,400 drums will eventually be treated in the facility. Once thoroughly raked, thermally monitored and repackaged, the drums will be moved to out-of-state disposal.
The ARP VII facility is equipped with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration. It was most recently used to reduce the size of large, contaminated boxes of legacy waste and debris. The material was repackaged for shipment to permanent disposal facilities.
The waste treated at the facility was generated during the cold war. Most of the material came from the Rocky Flats Plant near Denver. It was stored at INL until the 1980's.
Fluor Idaho said new processes will be used to minimize the chance of an event similar to a breach of 4 drums that happened in April 2018. No external contamination was detected at the time and there were no injuries.
"Our crews have improved the processes for safely treating and packaging sludge wastes," said Jason Chapple, a manager at Flour Idaho, INL Site cleanup contractor.
The Department of Energy Environmental Management Program and Fluor Idaho are currently involved in closing the ARP V facility in compliance with federal regulations.
