Energy Department selects Idaho for nuclear test reactor

FILE - In this Nov. 29, 2018 photo, hot cell operators Dawnette Hunter, left, and Scot White manipulate radioactive material from behind 4-foot-thick leaded glass at the Hot Fuel Examination Facility at the Idaho National Laboratory about 50 miles west of Idaho Falls, Idaho. The U.S. Department of Energy has selected Idaho as the site for a proposed nuclear test reactor that would dramatically reduce the time needed to develop nuclear fuels and components for a new generation of nuclear reactors. The Energy Department on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, said it selected its 890-square-mile site in eastern Idaho that includes the Idaho National Laboratory to build the Versatile Test Reactor, or VTR. (AP Photo/Keith Riddler,File)

BOISE (AP) — Idaho has been selected as the site for a proposed nuclear test reactor that would dramatically reduce the time needed to develop nuclear fuels and components for a new generation of nuclear reactors that could help reduce global warming, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The Energy Department said it selected its 890-square-mile site in eastern Idaho that includes the Idaho National Laboratory to build the Versatile Test Reactor, or VTR.

The VTR is a sodium-cooled fast test reactor that would be the first fast spectrum test reactor to operate in the United States in nearly three decades. The Energy Department has requested funding from Congress to move the VTR project into the design phase. The project includes facilities for examining material tested in the reactor as well as managing spent fuel produced by the reactor.

Scientists have said the test reactor could help lead to new nuclear reactors and reduce the use of fossil fuels blamed for global warming. Efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developing new technologies with nuclear power began during the Obama administration and have continued under both the Trump and Biden administrations. About 20% of the nation’s energy comes from about 100 nuclear power plants.

“Bringing a fast neutron test source back to the U.S. is an investment in our transition to a future carbon-free economy,” Kathryn Huff, assistant secretary for the Energy Department’s Nuclear Energy, said in a statement on Wednesday. “Now that we have completed this important step in the decision-making process, I look forward to working with Congress to obtain the funding needed to someday make VTR a reality.”

Specifically, the Department of Energy, or DOE, in May released an environmental impact statement that found building the test reactor in Idaho would have minimal impacts on the environment. Based on that study, the department on July 22 signed off on what’s called a record of decision to formally select Idaho as the site for the project.

“DOE needs to develop this capability to establish the U.S. testing capability for next-generation nuclear reactors — many of which require a fast-neutron spectrum for operation — thus enabling the U.S. to regain technology leadership for the next generation nuclear fuels, materials, and reactors,” the agency said in the July 22 document. “The lack of a versatile fast-neutron-spectrum testing capability is a significant national strategic risk affecting the ability of DOE to fulfill its mission to advance the energy, environmental, and nuclear security interests of the U.S. and promote scientific and technological innovation.”

The Energy Department is hoping to have the test reactor running by the end of 2026. Currently, such nuclear testing capacity only exists in Russia, the department said.

The reactor would give the nation a dedicated “fast-neutron-spectrum” testing capability. The advantage of such a test reactor, scientists say, is that fast neutrons have a higher energy level and speed the testing of materials, fuels and instruments needed in a new wave of planned commercial nuclear reactors being developed by civilian companies and university researchers.

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