CERCLA Site: A Site requiring institutional controls (ICs) as part of an environmental restoration remedy decision under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).

Institutional Controls: Any mechanism(s) used to restrict inappropriate uses of land, facilities, and environmental media by limiting exposure to residual contaminants left behind as part of a CERCLA or Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) remedy.

Test Area North (TAN) is located at the northern end of the INL Site and was established in the early 1950s to support the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program sponsored by the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The objectives of that program were to develop and test designs for nuclear-powered aircraft engines. Upon termination of that research in 1961, the TAN facilities were converted to support a variety of other DOE research.

From 1962 through the 1970s, TAN supported reactor safety testing and behavior studies at the Loss-of-Fluid Test Facility, the Initial Engine Test Facility, and the Water Reactor Research Test Facility. From 1980 to 2001, TAN was used to conduct work with material from the 1979 Three-Mile Island Reactor accident.

Over the years, contamination has been released to the environment during some of the operational activities at TAN. To facilitate cleanup of contamination, TAN was designated as WAG 1 under the FFA/CO. Remedial actions were completed at WAG 1 in 2007, and decommissioning and dismantlement (D&D) of the remaining facilities without an operational mission are scheduled for completion by 2008.

Institutional controls are established for the following sites:

The Reactor Technology Complex (RTC), formerly known as the Test Reactor Area (TRA), was established in the early 1950s to study the effects of radiation on materials, fuels, and equipment. To aid in this research, a number of facilities were constructed, including three major test reactors: the Materials Test Reactor (MTR) (1952 to 1970), the Engineering Test Reactor (ETR) (1957 to 1982), and the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) (1967 to present).

Although decommissioning and dismantlement of the MTR and ETR are ongoing, remedial actions were completed at WAG 2 in 1999.

Institutional controls are established for the following sites:

The Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) -- formerly the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant -- began receiving, storing, and reprocessing nuclear materials in 1953. The nuclear materials included irradiated nuclear fuel from test, defense, and research reactors in the United States and other countries. Between 1954 and 1989, the INL Site received defense-related waste for storage. The INTEC also reclaimed highly enriched uranium by reprocessing spent nuclear fuels. However, the end of the Cold War and changes in public attitudes toward nuclear power reduced the demand for the highly enriched uranium. So, in 1992, the DOE announced that the reprocessing portion of the plant's mission would be phased out.

Known contaminant releases at WAG 3 are the result of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing; storage, research, and ancillary activities; and releases associated with the INTEC tank farm. Remedial actions are currently ongoing at INTEC and are expected to be completed by 2012. Consequently, institutional controls are implemented at sites where remedial actions are complete, and at sites where remedial actions are yet to be performed. Institutional controls are also established for the Operable Unit (OU) 3-14 industrial use area, and the groundwater and drilling area under OU 3-14.

Institutional controls are established for the following sites:

The CFA was originally built and operated by the U.S. Navy as a proving ground for battleship guns and to conduct other munitions experiments. Construction of the proving ground facility was completed in 1943. The U.S. Navy continued to use the facilities until 1949, when munitions experiments were discontinued. Since then, the DOE has used the CFA facility for operations support services at the INL, for example, laboratories, security operations, fire protection, medical facilities, communication systems, warehouses, a cafeteria, vehicle and equipment pools, and the bus system. Although WAG 4 remedial actions have been completed, the facility is still used for operations support.

Laboratory and operational activities resulted in releases to the environment that were cleaned up under WAG 4. Remedial actions at WAG 4 were finalized in 2004. Although new CERCLA sites have been discovered at CFA since remedial actions have been finalized, they will be addressed under WAG 10.

Institutional controls are established for the following sites:

The Auxiliary Reactor Area (ARA) and the Power Burst Facility (PBF) together comprise the Critical Infrastructure Test Range Complex (CITRC). The ARA consisted of four separate operational areas, while PBF consisted of five operational areas.

The ARA-II facility housed the Stationary Low Power Reactor No. 1 (SL-1) facility and numerous minor structures. The ARA-I facility was built to support SL-1. Both of these facilities were built in 1957. In 1961, an accident destroyed the SL-1 reactor, and ARA-I became the staging area for the SL-1 emergency response and subsequent SL-1 decontamination and cleanup.

ARA-III and ARA-IV were built in the late 1950s. The ARA-III facility initially housed the Army Gas-Cooled Reactor Experiment research reactor, and the ARA-IV facility was built to accommodate the Mobile Low Power Reactor-1. Experiments with the Army Gas-Cooled Reactor were discontinued in 1961, but work at the Mobile Low Power Reactor-1 continued through 1964. In 1963 ARA-III was modified to support tests at ARA-IV, and remained active until 1965.

Built in the late 1950s, PBF was initially known as the Special Power Excursion Reactor Test (SPERT). The SPERT facility consisted of the following operational areas: Control Area and SPERT-I, SPERT-II, SPERT-III, and SPERT-IV. Later, operational areas at PBF consisted of the PBF Control Area, the PBF Reactor Area (SPERT-I), the Waste Engineering Development Facility (SPERT-II), and the Mixed Waste Storage Facility (SPERT-IV).

Operations at ARA and PBF resulted in releases to the environment that were cleaned up under WAG 5. Remedial actions at WAG 5 were finalized in 2006, but D&D activities are scheduled to continue until 2009.

Institutional controls are established for the following sites:

WAG 6 consists of the Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR)-I, and the Boiling-Water Reactor Experiment (BORAX). The EBR-I facility was established in the early 1950s to test the theory that a reactor could produce more fuel than it uses, and become the first reactor to generate electricity. In 1953, tests conducted at the EBR-I proved that a reactor could create more fuel than it used, even while it created electricity. In 1963, reactor operations at EBR-I ceased.

Five reactor experiments were conducted at BORAX between 1953 and 1964. These experiments began with BORAX-I , which was intentionally destroyed in 1954 to demonstrate its inherent safety under extreme conditions. It was subsequently buried in place.

In late 1954, another BORAX facility was constructed adjacent to BORAX-I. Over the next 10 years, three reactors (BORAX-II, BORAX-III, and BORAX-IV) shared the same reactor vessel, but the experiments used different fuel designs and core configurations. The BORAX-V reactor also shared the same facility but used a new reactor vessel and core system.

Operations and support activities at the EBR-I and BORAX areas resulted in releases of radioactive contamination to the environment that were cleaned up under WAG 6 in 1997. EBR-I building remains, and has been established as a national landmark, open to the public from May to September. All other facilities have been removed.

Institutional controls are established for the following sites:

Since it began operations in the 1950s, the Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) has been used to dispose of hazardous and radioactive waste. The RWMC occupies about 177 acres and is divided into three areas: the Subsurface Disposal Area (SDA), the Transuranic Storage Area, and the administration and operations area. The comprehensive OU 7-13/14 Record of Decision establishing institutional controls has not been finalized yet, but temporary institutional controls have been established at the following WAG 7 sites:

Established in 1949, the Naval Reactors Facility (NRF) (WAG 8) was used for engineering, spent nuclear fuel reprocessing, materials testing, and nuclear operator training for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. Currently, the NRF is used to perform research, inspection, and examination of naval spent nuclear fuel at the Expended Core Facility; storage of naval spent nuclear fuel and special case waste; and preparation and examination of developmental materials, including nuclear fuel from the Advanced Test Reactor at RTC. Cleanup at the NRF continues at nine sites identified in the 1998 record of decision; however, WAG 8 is not under the direct control of DOE-ID.

Institutional controls are established for the following sites:

NRF-01, NRF-02, NRF-16, NRF-18A, NRF-22, NRF-23, NRF-42, NRF-43, NRF-51, NRF-53, NRF-61, NRF-66, NRF-81, NRF-82 and NRF-83

The Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC), designated as WAG 9, was established in 1957 by the University of Chicago for the AEC. Work in the area originally consisted of testing nuclear reactors and reactor safety systems, including the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II. Currently, MFC is involved in stabilization, management, and storage of spent nuclear fuel; storage of transuranic waste; and large-scale advanced reactor development. None of these reactors is currently operating, but past operations and support activities have resulted in releases of chemical and radioactive contamination to the environment.

WAG 9 operations are being conducted by BEA, which reports to DOE-ID. BEA has a scope of work in place with CWI to perform integration of WAG 9 activities into those that they perform in accordance with the Federal Facility Agreement/Consent Order for the INL. All WAG 9 CERCLA remediation activities have been successfully completed and two CERCLA sites that contained radionuclides remain under institutional controls per the signed record of decision (ROD). These two sites continue to be inspected annually to ensure that the institutional controls are still in place and documented.

WAG 10 comprises miscellaneous surface sites and liquid disposal areas throughout the INL Site that are not included within other WAGs (WAGs 1 through 9). It includes the INL Site area that falls outside of the boundaries of the other WAGS, and also includes INL Site-related concerns about the Snake River Plain Aquifer that cannot be addressed on a WAG-specific basis. Consequently, WAG 10 comprises a large area, much of which is assumed to be uncontaminated.

Institutional controls are established for the following sites: