Energy corridor location key to economic development

Realtors sell by using an old adage – location, location, location.

Idaho National Laboratory's Steven Aumeier emphasized the same principle at the Bannock Development Corporation's recent Eighteenth Annual Economic Symposium.

"Bannock County, Idaho, is nestled within one of the richest energy corridors in the world and near the nation's premier nuclear energy research laboratory," he told the group, which gathered Aug. 17 at Idaho State University.

Idaho's U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, state Department of Commerce Director Don Dietrich and several others also delivered updates on the region's economic development and its many partners. INL, along with Bannock County and the city of Pocatello, is a legacy investor in BDC and joined several others in sponsoring the annual event.

Aumeier, INL's director of Energy Systems and Technologies, showed a map of the energy-rich Western corridor, which stretches from the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan down through Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Colorado.

"Fortunately, Bannock and Idaho are situated within an area with a strong entrepreneurial culture and among key energy transmission lines for electricity and gas," he said. "This is a great opportunity and challenge."

He also outlined the need for pursuing the "Smart Energy Approach" and solving the "grand challenge of our generation" in responsibly producing and using energy.

Read the full article by by Keith Arterburn, INL Communications & Public Affairs by clicking here.

The Idaho National Lab...on YouTube!

Idaho Falls AREVA Project Named Top Corporate Facility Deal of 2008

The cover story for May's "Site Selection" magazine features the Idaho Falls AREVA project at the top of its list of North American corporate facility deals of 2008. (Yes, the list is alphabetical, but who cares!) Several groups were praised for their involvement in the deal, including Grow Idaho Falls, Inc., the Idaho Department of Commerce, the Idaho National Lab, the Eastern Idaho Economic Development Partnership, and the Regional Development Alliance.

According to the article, the "Top Deals are determined by level of capital investment, degree of high-value jobs, creativity in negotiations and incentives, regional economic impact, competition for the project and speed to market."

Way to go, IDAHO and AREVA!

INL Announces Plans for $48 Million Leed Certified Energy & Research Building in Idaho Falls

IDAHO FALLS – The Idaho National Laboratory has announced plans for a new flagship facility at its Idaho Falls campus. INL selected the Boyer Company of Salt Lake City to build a roughly 131,000-square-foot, $48-million building between the lab's two main Idaho Falls facilities. INL will occupy the building through a long-term lease agreement with the Boyer Company.

The new Research and Education Laboratory will act as the "front door" to neighboring campus facilities and become the interface between the public and the INL staff. It is conceived as a state-of-the-art laboratory that creates a collaborative environment between INL employees, partners and visitors. School field trips, conference attendees and visiting scientists will be able to use the space to collaborate on research and learn about INL and contemporary research activities.

The new facility will be Gold certified for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) by the U.S. Green Building Council. Green buildings — also called "sustainable buildings," "resource-efficient buildings" or "high-performance buildings" — minimize the impact on the environment by using less energy and water, reducing solid waste and pollutants, and limiting the depletion of natural resources.

Read the full press release from the INL by clicking here.

NAI Brokers Attend Grow Idaho Falls, Inc Investor Breakfast

NAI brokers attended the quarterly Grow Idaho Falls, Inc Investor Breakfast at The Red Lion on the Falls this morning. Dennis Miotla, U. S. DOE Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Power Deployment Interim Manager – Idaho Operations Office, presented on The Idaho National Laboratory Mission in Eastern Idaho. To learn more about Grow Idaho Falls, please visit their web site at http://www.growidahofalls.org/

Idaho Falls CAES Dedicated

Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and the state’s U.S. Congressional delegation on Feb. 20 joined officials with the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho’s three largest universities and the Department of Energy to officially dedicate the Center for Advanced Energy Studies in Idaho Falls.

The center, a 55,000-square-foot, $17 million energy research laboratory, is a partnership between INL, the universities and private industry that will focus on education, training and research into solutions for energy problems facing the nation. According to the CAES web site, CAES integrates resources, capabilities and expertise to create new research capabilities, expand researcher-to-researcher collaborations, and enhance energy-related educational opportunities. From a broad energy perspective that includes fossil, renewable, alternative energy, environmental stewardship, energy policy studies, and a focus on the national renaissance of commercial nuclear power, CAES delivers innovative, cost-effective, credible energy research leading to sustainable technology-based economic development. Read the full Idaho Business Review article on the dedication here.

Did You Know?

INL Researchers Meet Major Hydrogen Milestone

A team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory reached a major milestone in September with the successful production of hydrogen through High-Temperature Electrolysis (HTE).

The milestone was reached when the Integrated Laboratory Scale experiment started producing hydrogen at a rate of 5.6 cubic meters per hour.

"This is by far the biggest achievement we've had," said Carl Stoots, the experiment’s principal investigator.

With this milestone met, the HTE plant is on its way to opening many doors for innovation in energy production, contributing to the Department of Energy’s overarching goal of a "hydrogen economy." Eventually, HTE could provide pure hydrogen for fuel cell-powered cars, Herring said – "but that’s a long way off."

Read the entire press release here: https://inlportal.inl.gov/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1555&mode=2&featurestory=DA_150378



(The HTE plant is located in the Bonneville County Technology Center, 101 Technology Drive in Idaho Falls, across the street from the INL Research Center. )

PREMIER TECHNOLOGY AND CAES ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP

Organizations to Advance Energy Security for Nation and Address Workforce and Technology Development Issues

Premier Donates $60,000 in Equipment for New Building

BLACKFOOT, IDAHO, AUG. 27, 2008 – Premier Technology, a leading manufacturer and industrial contractor in Idaho, the U.S. and abroad, announced today it has formed a strategic partnership with the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES).

CAES, based in Idaho Falls, is a public/private partnership comprised of Idaho’s three public universities, private industry, and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Premier and CAES made the announcement after CAES staff concluded a tour of Premier’s Blackfoot, Idaho facility.
Under terms of the partnership, Premier Technology and CAES will work collaboratively to enhance the effectiveness of both organizations in advancing technology-based workforce and economic development in Idaho.

Click here for the full press release from Premier Technology.

State, Federal Governments agree on INL Buried Waste Cleanup Plan Settlement provides long-term protection for Snake River Plain Aquifer (IDAHO FALLS)

DOE News Release For Immediate Release
July 1, 2008 Media Contacts: Brad Bugger, (208) 526-0833 Danielle Miller, (208) 526-5709 –

The State of Idaho and the federal government today announced their agreement to a cleanup plan for buried waste at the Idaho National Laboratory that provides for the long-term protection of the Snake River Plain Aquifer. The agreement implements a 2006 federal court order in coordination with ongoing Superfund cleanup of the area. It marks the end of six years of litigation between the U.S. Department of Energy and the State of Idaho, and it will satisfy DOE’s commitment to Idaho to remove transuranic (plutonium-contaminated) waste buried at INL decades ago.

“This agreement reflects years of effort, scientific advancement, diligent follow-up, and most of all building trust,” Governor Otter said. “We enter into this agreement confident that it is in the best interest of the aquifer, the Idaho National Laboratory, and all Idahoans. With the support of my predecessors in this office, it represents our best effort – and our highest aspirations – for securing a safe and productive future.” “Today’s plan satisfies the requirements of Judge Lodge’s 2006 decision by requiring the removal of transuranic waste from Idaho, consistent with the court’s direction to protect worker safety,” Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said.

“Although our litigation was lengthy, it concluded in a sensible agreement to fulfill DOE’s commitment to Idaho.” “The Department of Energy is pleased to reach an agreement with the state of Idaho on a cleanup plan that assures the Snake River Plain is protected,” DOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management James A. Rispoli said. “After an extensive evaluation of technical data and careful consideration of public input, we believe this approach will be protective of the environment and ensure worker safety and our national security.”

Former Idaho Governors Phil Batt and Cecil Andrus, whose previous negotiations with DOE laid the foundation for today’s agreement, also attended today’s announcement. “This framework takes a practical, comprehensive approach to address an issue that does not have an easy solution,” former Governor Batt said. “It is an important step toward achieving a goal I set back in 1995 – proper cleanup of INL’s historic problems.”

“Finally, after all of these years, the federal government has agreed to comply with the removal of the transuranic waste that has been buried in Idaho for too long,” former Governor Andrus said. “EPA is glad to see this issue resolved.

The waste retrieval required by this settlement is consistent with the proposed cleanup strategy for site and an important step forward in dealing with the waste disposal legacy at the Idaho National Lab,” EPA Regional Administrator Elin Miller said.

The cleanup plan was developed after an exhaustive technical review and balancing of potential risks to the public, workers, and the environment. The plan takes into account public feedback to a draft proposal issued under the Superfund cleanup process. Most of the radioactivity from plutonium and other transuranic elements buried in the Subsurface Disposal Area is located in a small percentage of the waste volume. The plan identifies a range from 5.7 acres to 7.4 acres for shipment of no less than 7,485 cubic meters of targeted wastes most likely to be contaminated with transuranic elements (such as plutonium), as well as uranium, and volatile organic compounds (hazardous chemical solvents similar to cleaning fluids that move easily in groundwater). Retrieval areas were selected based on the densities of waste identified through disposal records and geophysical evaluations, and a review of factors that may affect the relative risks to cleanup workers, the public and the environment.

DOE will treat retrieved waste for shipment out of Idaho. The plan addresses remaining contamination in the Subsurface Disposal Area through a combination of continued vacuuming of hazardous chemical vapors, grouting of some more mobile contaminants, and a long-term cap. Long-term monitoring and reevaluation of cleanup performance at least every five years will assure the approach is protecting the public and safeguarding the aquifer.

The cleanup of the Subsurface Disposal involves two different legal processes: (1) removal of transuranic waste under the 1995 Settlement Agreement between the State and DOE, and (2) overall Superfund cleanup of contamination from the Subsurface Disposal Area. The legal documents that will work together to govern these two aspects of cleanup of the Subsurface Disposal Area are: 1. Agreement to Implement U.S. District Court Order dated May 25, 2006, subject to approval by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Lodge. 2. Record of Decision for Waste Area Group 7 (a draft is in the review process by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, State of Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and U.S. Department of Energy). The Subsurface Disposal Area at the INL began receiving waste in 1952. The area contains a wide array of radioactive and chemical wastes, located in approximately 35 acres of disposal pits and trenches in a 97-acre site. Transuranic (plutonium-contaminated) waste from the Rocky Flats Plant in Colorado is distributed unevenly in pits and trenches in roughly 15 acres of the landfill. Cleanup of the Subsurface Disposal Area has long been the subject of disputes between Idaho and DOE.

In 2002, Idaho brought legal proceedings in U.S. District Court to determine DOE’s obligation to Idaho under the 1995 Settlement Agreement regarding transuranic waste in the Subsurface Disposal Area. In May 2006, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Lodge determined the 1995 Settlement Agreement obligates DOE to remove transuranic waste from the Subsurface Disposal Area, with safety of waste removal taken into account. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld Judge Lodge’s decision. DOE has prepared a fact sheet regarding its performance under the Idaho Settlement Agreement and other legal agreements. More information is available at https://idahocleanupproject.com .

INL awards $5 million Contract to Idaho Falls-based firm.

INL Awards Construction Contract: $5 Million Construction Project Will Consolidate Facilities

By Joshua Palmer, The Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho

Mar. 3--Idaho National Laboratory announced Thursday that it has awarded a contract to Idaho Falls-based Eagle Rock Timber to build a new radiochemistry laboratory at the Materials and Fuels Complex on the INL desert Site.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for the spring with the facility slated to open in Feb. 2009.
The laboratory is estimated to cost $5 million and will consolidate activities from existing laboratories. The new lab's ongoing research will support INL program areas including Advanced Fuel Cycle development, homeland security, and research in partnership with industry, other laboratories, university and international organizations.

Click here to read the full article.