Idaho nuclear lab director eyes new generation of scientists
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho's federal nuclear facility can become the nation's premier energy security lab while also bolstering the region's economy, the new director says.
"Mark's recognized leadership in all fields of energy research — including energy storage, renewable energy, energy efficiency and nuclear energy — and national security makes him an ideal choice as the next Lab Director of INL," Ron Townsend, Chair of Battelle Energy Alliance's Board of Managers, said in a statement announcing the decision in August.
A different Department of Energy contractor is handling nuclear waste cleanup at the facility that opened in 1949 and that for a time pumped radioactive waste underground into an aquifer relied on by area cities and farmers.
Currently, the Idaho attorney general is refusing to grant a waiver to that deal allowing in two shipments of spent nuclear fuel weighing about 200 pounds for research until a $571 million malfunctioning treatment plant starts working.