AMWTP repurposing for another INL facility
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - Technology developed to treat and repackage radioactive sludge at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) will be used to treat the remaining transuranic waste at another site facility treating similar material.
The Accelerated Retrieval Project VII facility was most recently used to reduce the size of large, contaminated legacy waste boxes and debris prior to repackaging them for shipment to permanent disposal facilities.
Fluor Idaho said workers recently began opening drums and treating sludge waste at the AMWTP facility. Using robotic arms, they open the drums and pour the contents into stainless steel troughs. If liquids are present in the waste, workers add an absorbent before repackaging the material into new waste drums.
The waste being treated contains oils and radioactive constituents. It was generated during weapons production. Most comes from the former Rocky Flats Plant near Denver. It was sent to the INL site until the 1980’s.
“We’ve successfully treated challenging waste streams in these boxlines throughout our mission,” Fluor Idaho Waste Management Director Bryan Breffle said. “It made sense to take advantage of the treatment facility to add additional capabilities to our sludge repackaging work scope while continuing the treatment of similar sludges at the nearby Accelerated Retrieval Project (ARP VII) facility."
The AMWTP is a 5-year, $1.4 billion Department of Energy project focused on remediating transuranic waste, managing spent nuclear fuel, and treating high-level radioactive waste at the Idaho National Laboratory.
