Released : July, 2002

The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) planned to build a plant to crush and burn plutonium, other radioactive substances, hazardous chemicals including PCBs, and heavy metals. INEEL signed a contract with British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) to own and operate the plant, which would process anywhere from 65,000 to 185,000 cubic meters of the mixed waste from INEEL and other nuclear weapons sites over the next 13 to 30 years. About 25% of it will be incinerated.

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 incinerator.

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.

1999 January: INEEL releases the final version of the plutonium waste incinerator 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.

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 in Jackson are denied.

July: KEEP YELLOWSTONE NUCLEAR FREE is formed. A town meeting is held at which people from all walks of life pledge their support in fighting the incinerator.

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. Jackson attorney Gerry Spence represents the plaintiffs.

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

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

January, 2000: KYNF Board members Tom Patricelli, Berte Hirschfield, Mary Mitchell, and Imaging Spence travel to New York City and Washington, D.C. and meet with national media, members of Congress, and White House officials to press for an immediate halt to the incinerator project.

March: U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announces that the DOE has settled the lawsuit brought by KYNF and other environmental groups. Plans to build the plutonium incinerator are shelved.

December, 2000: Richardson travels to Jackson Hole to meet with KYNF and local residents to formally announce DOE's decision not to build plutonium waste incinerator.



Thanks to the Snake River Alliance for providing critical details.

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