IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY
Test Area North
Test Area North (TAN) was established by the Atomic Energy Commission, the DOE's predecessor, in the 1950s. Located at the north end of INL, it was originally intended to aid the in the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) program's efforts to construct a nuclear-powered airplane, but in 1961 President John F. Kennedy cancelled the program before completion. Still, two nuclear-powered aircraft engines were built and tested. Both are on display at the Experimental Breeder Reactor-I (EBR-I) National Historic Site at INL. Under the ANP, there five test areas: Initial Engine Test (IET), Assembly and Maintenance (A&M), Low Power Test (Susie area), Administration and Service (Admin.), and Flight Engine Test (FET or TAN Hangar Area).
TAN had three operations areas: the Technical Test Facility (TSF), the Containment Test Facility (CTF), and the Water Reactor Research Test Facility (WRRTF). The TSF buildings, centrally located, were the administration, manufacturing and assembly, and maintenance center. The area had specialized facilities for technical engineering and remote handling of radioactive materials, to support energy and defense research. The CTF, a reactor facility on the west end of TAN, was housed the the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program and then the Loss of Fluid Test (LOFT) facility, and the WRRTF, until both were deactivated.
The WRRTF, which is located 1.6 miles south of TSF, housed the Separate Effect Test Facility, the sodium potassium deactivation project, and a project to test explosives detection systems. It also housed the Semiscale (TAN 646), Thermal Hydraulic Loss-of-Coolant Project (TAN-646), the Blowdown Facility (TAN-640), and Two-Phase Flow Loop (TAN-640) loss-of-coolant projects. It was originally built to conduct pool and table reactor experiments. The Initial Engine Test Facility supported the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program followed by the Space Nuclear Auxiliary Power Transient Program until the facility's deactivation. It continued to be used until the 1980s when decontamination and disposition began. The process was completed in the late 1990s. The facility is used by the Applied Engineering and Development Laboratory.
Between 1965 and 1975, the LOFT facility (TAN-650), a small-scale version of a commercial pressurized water reactor, was built to study reactor fuel meltdowns due to loss of coolant. The findings were sent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to be applied to operating codes for commercial reactors. The LOFT dome, which was 97 feet high and had a diameter of 70 feet, contained a mobile test reactor that was moved via railroad car. After 38 experiments, the facility was closed.
The Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) Core Offsite Examination Program was located at TAN from 1985 until its end in 1990. The TMI-2 core debris was stored at INTEC as part of DOE's SNF program. The samples were used in studying the effect of reactor core degradation on nuclear fuel. In April 2001 the final shipment of the SNF to INTEC was completed in accordance with the 1995 Settlement Agreement.
TAN is one of the five geographic areas of focus for the Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP); it was the site of the project's first significant decommissioning and dismantlement (D&D) work. Remedial actions at Waste Area Group (WAG) 1, of which TAN is a part, were completed in 2007 and D&D is scheduled for completion in 2008. As of April 2008, the ICP has demolished 43 of the designated 44 excess facilities no longer required for INL missions and decommissioned and demolished the LOFT reactor. It also plans to demolish the Hot Shop Complex (TAN-607,) a high risk facility, and completely eliminate the TAN footprint by the end of 2008. The TAN industrial waste landfill will either be transferred to INL, privatized, or close. TAN is scheduled to be the site's first geographical area closed.
The Specific Manufacturing Capability Project (SMCP) is also located at TAN, immediately adjacent to the LOFT facility on the CTF, and is planed to remain active through 2015. The facility develops and produces armor for U.S. army combat vehicles. The SMC delivered its first product in October 1987, achieved full production capacity in 1988, and in 1998 delivered its 3,000th unit. It manufactured protective armor the U.S. Army's main battle tank, the M1A1 and M1A2. The manufacture of the Abrams M1A1 Main Battle Tank entailed converting depleted uranium billets into a finished armor package using molten salt baths, rolling and cleaning operations, and configuration of materials utilizing standard machine shop equipment such as lathes, mills, punches, shears, and lasers.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
