New company picked to manage radioactive waste cleanup at Idaho National Laboratory

New company hired to manage waste removal at INL

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — A Virginia-based company is taking over the day-to-day management of radioactive nuclear waste cleanup at the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho.

The U.S. Department of Energy, which oversees the research facility, will pay CH2M Hill Newport News Nuclear LLC about $592 million over the next five years to treat and ship thousands of barrels of radioactive waste that have been stored near the facility since the 1950s. About 30,200 cubic meters of waste need to be treated and shipped to a permanent disposal site in Carlsbad, N.M., before 2015.

The Idaho National Laboratory site is best known as the place where nuclear energy generated electricity for the first time, in 1951. During the Cold War, the 890-square-mile reservation also became home to millions of tons of nuclear waste generated at sites in other states.

In 1995, the federal government agreed to remove the radioactive and toxic waste amid concerns from Idaho leaders that the refuse would spread to the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer and eventually the Snake River.

Energy Department spokeswoman Danielle Miller told the Post Register that CH2M Hill had shown it could provide “the most bang for the buck.” The company was picked to take over management of the project from Bechtel BWXT-Idaho.

Bechtel officials said they are disappointed to lose the contract but hope CH2M Hill will hire some of its employees with specialized training.

CH2M Hill must tell current Bechtel workers about its hiring plans, Miller said, though the company isn’t yet sure how many people will keep their jobs.

Information from: Post Register, www.postregister.com