Initiating the D and D Project for the EBR-II

A novel decommissioning project is underway to close the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) 'fast' reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) facility near Idaho Falls, ID. The facility was placed in cold shutdown in 1994 and work began on the removal of the metallic sodium coolant. The bulk of the sodium was drained and treated beginning in 2001. The residual sodium heel was chemically passivated to render it less reactive in 2005 using a novel carbon dioxide treatment. Approximately 700 kg of metallic sodium and 3500 kg of sodium bicarbonate remain in the facility. A RCRA Waste Treatment Permit, issued in 2002 by the State of Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, requires annual progress toward closure of the facility, and that all regulated materials be removed or deactivated, and the waste products removed by 2022. The baseline sodium removal technology would result in about 100,000 gallons of low-level waste solution requiring treatment along with separate handling of the large components (intermediate heat exchanger, rotating plug, etc) outside of the primary tank.