INL commemorates 70th anniversary in state capitol

UPDATE: 1-23
(AP)
The director of the nation’s primary lab for nuclear research says the biggest threat to the lab’s mission is being prohibited from bringing in small quantities of spent nuclear fuel due to a federal agency’s settlement agreement with Idaho.

Mark Peters told lawmakers on the House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee on Tuesday that the impasse could cause some to question the Idaho National Laboratory’s status as the nation’s lead nuclear energy laboratory.

A $600 million treatment plant has failed to treat 900,000 gallons (3.4 million liters) of liquid radioactive waste that the U.S. Department of Energy was supposed to have cleaned up from the eastern Idaho federal site by 2012.

Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, as a result, blocked a shipment of spent research fuel to the lab in 2016.

UPDATE:
A new INL legislative caucus has been formed in the legislature. It is comprised of House and Senate legislators wwho are charged with advocating for INL within the legislature. The group will also help educate fellow lawmakers about what the INL is doing for eastern Idaho and the state.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Representatives of the Idaho National Laboratory met with state workers and lawmakers in the capitol rotunda Tuesday for INL Day at the Capitol.

INL is marking its 70th anniversary in Idaho and took the occasion to make legislators aware of its cybersecurity, STEM, energy, and nuclear programs.

Among those on hand was INL Director Mark Peters. “All of us at INL see our first 70 years as a foundation upon which we will help our fellow citizens build a brighter future. Our people are proud of their work and of the direction in which the Laboratory is heading,” said Peters.