Moniz talks nuclear research, waste at INLLUKE RAMSETH
U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz made a rare stop at Idaho National Laboratory this week, as he met with his advisory board and announced $82 million in federal investment for advanced nuclear technologies. After arriving at INL on Monday afternoon, Moniz and members of the
Secretary of Energy Advisory Board toured the Advanced Test Reactor. On
Tuesday morning, Moniz met with the board in Idaho Falls, where INL
Director Over the weekend the secretary had also been in Jackson, Wyo.,
meeting with several Western governors, including Idaho's In a Tuesday interview, Moniz touched on a number of hot Idaho topics, from INL research growth to spent nuclear fuel and cleanup controversies. He praised Peters - hired less than a year ago - for bringing "fresh perspectives" to the lab. Moniz said the Advanced Test Reactor visit was especially insightful for him and the board. They were shown around by U.S. Navy officials, he said, who explained the role ATR had played in developing nuclear fuel to power the Navy's new aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford, as well as researching nuclear fuels for the next generation of submarines. "That could not happen without the facilities here in Idaho - where the fuel gets developed and qualified," Moniz said. $82 million for advanced nuclear Moniz announced that DOE plans to invest $82 million in advanced nuclear research and facilities over the coming months. Some 93 projects in 28 states were selected to receive funding. About half the money will go toward improving university nuclear research programs and reactors, an area Moniz said the government overlooked in recent years. Other funding will go to seven research and development projects at national laboratories, as well as nuclear waste research. Moniz said about $5.5 million would end up in Idaho. A separate DOE announcement Monday said that eight small businesses had been selected to receive vouchers of up to $2 million each to help them develop several new nuclear technologies. Officials said the funding is the first step toward implementing a federal program called GAIN, or the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear, which they hope will lead to more private companies working with national labs on nuclear energy projects. INL last year took a leading role in setting up GAIN. Two companies to receive funding will work with INL - Creare LLC, from New Hampshire, and Oklo Inc., from California. Moniz said nuclear remains the country's largest source of carbon-free electricity, and would continue to be a federal research priority. "GAIN is focusing us toward some of the innovative, next generation technologies," he said. Excited about SMRs Moniz said his department has been "bullish" on the development of small modular reactors - an advanced design that would be built at a factory, and could be powered up and down based on energy demand. The first 600 megawatt small modular reactor in the country is proposed to be built somewhere on the INL site in about five years. An exact site to build the reactor will be picked in about a month, Moniz said. The company building the reactor, NuScale Power, is expected to submit its design certification paperwork to federal regulators later this year. Small modular reactors are partly attractive because of "passive safety features," allowing them to cool down in the event of an accident, Moniz said. "But another very important issue is, with their smaller scale, they may make the financing of nuclear power plants a lot easier," he said. "Because the massive capital required for building a 1,100 megawatt reactor is a challenge for utility balance sheets." However, Moniz said it will be hard to say for sure whether the "cost dynamics" work for small modular reactors until the first ones are operational. Spent fuel still a problem It's been a year and a half since Moniz asked Otter and Idaho
Attorney General One shipment was instead sent to Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The second shipment of about 100 pounds of nuclear material remains in limbo. "We're going to keep working this (issue) with the governor and the attorney general," Moniz said of the second shipment. "I have to say that the support of the governor and congressional delegation is very much appreciated. It is unfortunate that the first shipment had to be diverted. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is happily doing that work on the fuels, and that is unfortunate for Idaho." Moniz said delaying the second shipment is also causing big issues for DOE. The fuel is for a research project with South Korea looking into fuel recycling techniques and developing better safeguards for the nuclear fuel cycle. "We are able to carry out certain parts of the work using materials already here at the laboratory," Moniz said. "However, we cannot complete the project - which, by the way, involves an international agreement, a collaboration with South Korea - if we cannot bring that spent fuel here reasonably soon. "We simply will not be able to accomplish our goals, to put it bluntly," he added. Moniz acknowledged the key problem with bringing in the shipment was continued delays at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, a facility built to treat radioactive waste that has run into numerous delays and cost overruns. Wasden has said the facility must be operational before the fuel shipment is allowed into Idaho. "We will continue to move on (IWTU), but we continue to be very clear that we will not go forward with that until everything is worked out, and we are absolutely sure of its safe and successful operation," Moniz said. "We're not going to be driven by a schedule to bring in this second shipment of spent fuel." Moniz said he realized it was important for DOE to take care of its "obligations from the past," including legacy radioactive waste left behind in Idaho. But he said the spent fuel delay could impact the future of the lab. "It's certainly unfortunate that at this point we are unable to move on that future, and to satisfy our international obligation with our South Korean allies," he said. Moniz said he would be taking mostly a hands-off approach to the controversy going forward. "I do not want to get involved, and will not get involved, in what I would call political discussions in the state," he said. "Our job is to make progress on the IWTU, our job is to make progress and support Idaho for its critical work in nuclear energy technologies."
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