How did INEEL make this decision?

1993 December: INEEL starts developing a plan to "treat" waste contaminated with plutonium and hazardous chemicals.

1994 July: INEEL releases a 5,000-page draft environmental review of US spent fuel management and INEEL's environmental programs. Mixed waste plans are described in an appendix in a few dozen pages.

1995 May: INEEL announces its decision to build a plutonium waste plant without specifying any particular technology.

May: INEEL announces that the plant will be owned by a private company rather than the federal government, which owns the waste. The public is not involved.

August: The Snake River Alliance challenges the adequacy of INEEL's 1994 environmental review. The case is still pending in federal court.

October: INEEL and the State of Idaho agree to the plant, again without specifying how the waste will be handled. The public is not involved.

1996 January: INEEL opens the bidding on a contract to own and run the plant. The public is not involved.

December: INEEL awards a $1.18 billion contract to the US subsidiary of BNFL, which is owned by the British government. BNFL says it does not plan to build an incinerator. The public is not involved.

1997 July: INEEL tells its advisory board it does not plan to fully review the environmental impacts of BNFL's plans, which are now said to include incineration, vitrification, and crushing. The public is not involved.

August: The Alliance demands full environmental review of the plutonium plant. September INEEL concedes full environmental review is required by law.

December: BNFL applies for hazardous waste and toxic substances permits from the State of Idaho and the Environmental Protection Agency.

1998 April: BNFL applies for a permit to construct an air pollution source from the State of Idaho.

July: INEEL releases a draft of its environmental review before a decision to abandon vitrification is made. Public hearings are held in Idaho Falls and Twin Falls over the summer. The Alliance obtains technical help from colleague groups across the country.

September: The Alliance asks for a new review of the plutonium waste plant because the first does not compare the risks and benefits of BNFL's technologies with any other feasible treatment plans. The study does not even adequately cover what goes into the facility, what happens inside the facility, or what comes out of the facility. Ten other nuclear watchdog groups join the Alliance's call.

1999 January: INEEL releases the final version of the plutonium waste plant environmental review, which is fundamentally unchanged from the draft.

April: The State of Idaho releases a draft permit to construct an air pollution source and schedules a public hearing in Idaho Falls. At Alliance members' requests, additional hearings are held in Twin Falls and Boise.

May: Jackson, WY, residents learn of the planned plutonium treatment through a letter to their newspapers from an Alliance member. Repeated requests for a hearing there are denied. Throughout the summer, the Alliance provides information to more and more concerned people, including a newly formed legal team.

July: BNFL begins pre-construction activities for the plant. September Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free and the Environmental Defense Institute sue in federal court for a new environmental review of the plutonium plant.

September: The Alliance board of directors reviews our environmental principles, the history of the plutonium project, and our involvement in it. The Alliance decides to join legal action as appropriate.

October: The plaintiffs' petition for a temporary restraining order is denied.

October: The Snake River Alliance and the Sierra Club join the suit.

What's wrong with INEEL's decision?

The program to clean up nuclear weapons waste all around the US has not been very successful, and its funding has shrunk. Now more than ever, the federal government has an obligation to fix the worst risks first.

The greatest danger from INEEL is to the Snake River Aquifer, which provides drinking water for a fifth of Idaho's people. Plutonium, other radioactive substances, hazardous chemicals, and heavy metals were spilled or buried at INEEL and will continue to travel down to the aquifer until they're removed.

The planned plutonium waste plant won't be used for the spilled and buried waste for years, if ever. Instead, it will "treat" some of INEEL's most safely stored waste, much of it in ways that have no environmental benefit. But the public didn't have a chance to redirect INEEL's efforts until all the decisions were signed and sealed, and some of the money delivered.

What's next?

Outside the courtroom, the State of Idaho is expected to give BNFL a permit to construct an air pollution source. The State and EPA are expected to release draft hazardous waste and toxic substances permits in November. Throughout, the Alliance will continue to call for full public involvement.