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IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY

Reactor Technology Complex

The Reactor Technology Complex (RTC), formerly the Test Reactor Area (TRA), is the primary location of INL's energy research. It supports DOE nuclear technology research also. Established in the early 1950s, it is located on 102 acres in the southwestern region of INL about 50 miles west of Idaho Falls. Of the sites's seven reactors, the three major test reactors were the Materials Test Reactor (MTR), the Engineering Test Reactor (ETR), and the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). The MTR, which operated from March 31, 1952 to April 23, 1970, was the second reactor operated at INL. The MTR was used to research the affects of high-level radiation on metals and reactor components. Its tests influenced U.S. reactor design, fuel elements, and the material chosen for the core structure. After its shutdown, the MTR canal was used to store SNF, but following the 1995 Settlement Agreement the fuel was moved into dry storage.

The Engineering Test Reactor (ETR) was the largest and most advanced materials test reactor in the world when it began operation on September 19, 1957. It was used to evaluate fuel, coolant, and moderator materials until 1972. At that point the ETR mission was changed to support the DOE's breeder reactor safety program. It was used with the Sodium Loop Safety Facility to study liquid-sodium cooled reactors. Its last month of operation was December 1981; the following year it was deactivated. The ETR vessel was removed from its RTC location and transported to the Idaho CERCLA Disposal Facility (ICDF) in September 2007.

The RTC also included TRA-660, known as the Coupled Fast Reactivity Measurement Facility (CFRMF) and the Advanced Reactivity Measurement Facility (ARMF). Built in 1959, the 40-foot by 60-foot building housed a 28-foot by 8-foot, 18-foot deep concrete canal. The two light water moderated reactors ceased operation in 1991 and were defueled in 1997. In 1999 deactivation and decommissioning began and was still underway in 2001. The RTC also houses the Nuclear Material and Inspection Storage (NMIS), which as of 2002, was still being used as a repositiory for new, unirradiated fuel to power the ATR.

As of April 2008, both the MTR and the ETR are scheduled for demolition by 2012 by the Idaho Cleanup Project. The RTC is one of ICP's five geographic areas of concentration at INL. As of April 2008, twenty-three excess and two high risk facilities are scheduled to be demolished by the end of 2012. No new replacement facilities are planned to be built at the RTC by the ICP.

The RTC continues to operate six essential facilities, including two of INL's three reactors that are still in operation.

• The ATR is the world's premier test reactor. As of 2008, the ATR, which opened in 1967, was still in operation and served as the site's primary focus.

• The Advanced Test Reactor Critical Facility is a low-power, full-size nuclear duplicate of the ATR, designed to provide physics data to support the ATR test program.

• The TRA Hot Cell Facility includes three hot cells used to study irradiated samples and process radio isotopes. The cells have machine tools, measuring instruments, and manipulators that are remote-controlled.

• The Radiation Measurements Laboratory measures alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron radiation.

• The Radiochemistry Laboratory supports the Radiation Measurements Laboratory and does independent research and development work. Research studies include the production and purification of medical radioisotopes and the effects of radiation on hazardous waste.

• The Safety and Tritium Applied Research (STAR) Facility conducts research on fusion, concentrated largely in tritium behavior, for the DOE Office of Fusion Energy Science.