Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Idaho Waste Treatment Facility Employs Successful Radiation Protection Program
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Since beginning radiological operations in April 2023, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) has run a successful radiation protection program to control contamination and minimize personnel exposures while the plant converts liquid radioactive waste to a safer granular solid.
IWTU began operations on April 11, 2023, treating 68,000 gallons of the 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing waste from three nearby underground tanks during the next five months.
During a subsequent outage for maintenance, team members opened IWTU’s cells to replace filters and conduct inspections and repairs. They also designed and built mock-ups, tent enclosures and one-of-a-kind tools; maximized ventilation controls; and continually decontaminated areas to keep personnel exposures to a minimum and contain contamination within the cells themselves.
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