Tetra Tech was contracted by the DOE to provide design, licensing, construction and operations support to the Idaho Spent Fuel facility at the Idaho National Laboratory. This facility consists of three principal areas: cask receipt, transfer and storage. A common transfer tunnel accommodates the movement of fuel throughout the facility via rail-mounted trolleys. The complex includes buildings, transfer tunnel, storage vaults, canister and fuel handling machines, hot cells and a cask receiving area. This facility provides interim dry storage for spent nuclear fuel from the Peach Bottom and Shippingport nuclear reactors as well as from training, research and isotope reactors. In addition, this facility will support future loading of storage canisters into casks for transfer to long-term repositories.

As this facility was a privatized DOE project under Nuclear Regulatory Commission guidance, Tetra Tech was required to develop a license application for submittal and approval. This application represented the first major payment milestone ($65 million). Detailed safety assessments of the facility, systems and equipment were completed to support the NRC license application. Notably, our 10 CFR 72 license application to the NRC was submitted ahead of schedule. This submittal represented the culmination of an 18-month effort by Tetra Tech’s personnel working on two continents. The NRC docketed the application in March 2002 and the license was granted in November 2004. This is the first time the NRC has licensed a combined repackaging and storage operation.

Project Highlights

• Design, construction and operation of facility to allow for year-round operations to receive, repackage and store spent nuclear fuel under NRC requirements
• Preparation, submission, docketing and approval of NRC license application, including environmental report, emergency plan, decommissioning plan, physical protection plan, training plan and safety analysis report
• Integrated radiological shielding, passive natural convection air-cooling and easily retrievable storage capability
• Implemented the use of advanced remote handling equipment to minimize risk to personnel