Changes to an agreement on the removal of legacy waste from the US government’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) will allow critical research to continue that could support the extended storage of spent nuclear fuel at the country’s nuclear power plants.
INL announced that the state of Idaho and the US Department of Energy have agreed to a targeted waiver of the 1995 settlement agreement. That agreement established milestones to remove legacy waste from the INL site while allowing nuclear energy research and development at the lab.
The waiver will allow INL to bring in a high burnup nuclear fuel cask and limited amounts of used fuel from US university research reactors, meaning critical research can continue, INL said.