Idaho National Laboratory Cultural Resource Management Plan

Figure 24. Aerial view of MFC.
Other major reactor experiment facilities at MFC
include the Zero Power Plutonium Reactor (ZPPR)
that physicists used to mock up different fuel and
control elements and test them at low power and
the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) that
Argonne built to better understand how fast
neutrons behaved during an excursion. (INEL
1969).
Miscellaneous Programs. Other reactor
concepts tested at INL include the Organic
Moderated Reactor Experiment (OMRE),
constructed southwest of CFA and operated from
1957 to 1963. The OMRE was designed to test the
use of liquid hydrocarbons as a coolant and
moderator. After deactivation in 1963, the facility
remained unused until 1977, when it was finally
dismantled.
The Experimental Organic Cooled Reactor
(EOCR) was built adjacent to the OMRE facility
and was designed as a continuation of the OMRE
studies. EOCR was approximately 90% complete
when the program was canceled in 1962 and,
though the reactor was in place, it was never
brought to criticality (INEL 1969). The EOCR
reactor building was subsequently used briefly for
office space, then was renamed as the Security
Training Facility and used to train Laboratory
security forces. After standing in the desert for 38
years, the EOCR facility was removed in 1999.
Current Operations
The LOFT facility at TAN was the last new
reactor testing facility to be constructed at INL,
and the years following the end of the LOFT
program saw a continuing decline in the reactor
testing mission.
ATR is the only DOE-ID full-scale reactor
currently operating, and all other remaining INL
reactor facilities are in various stages of shutdown
and deactivation, decontamination, and
decommissioning (DD&D) or are in standby
awaiting new missions. Fuel processing and waste
calcining at INTEC have ended, and the original
WCF and Fuel Reprocessing Complex have
undergone or are undergoing DD&D. Hazardous
and radioactive waste management, environmental
cleanup, environmental technology development,
and long-term environmental stewardship have
assumed greater importance over the years. The
labor force at INL (including the NRF and
then-Argonne) peaked in 1992 with some 12,700
employees (Stacy 1999). In the years between
1992 and 2009 the number of employees declined
to a sitewide total of approximately 6600,
including NRF. This reduction, and the
consolidation of activities, resulted in some of the
built environment standing vacant. However, the
nation’s energy and security concerns have
resulted in new and revitalized INL missions and
growth.
In 2002 DOE named INL the lead Laboratory
for the development of the next generation of
nuclear reactor technology and for the
development and testing of Homeland Security
technologies. In 2010 ATR was named a national
scientific user facility and INL management and
staff are actively seeking and attaining new
scientific research and engineering projects in
governmental, private sector, and international
arenas. INL now plays a key role in the
advancement of America’s scientific and
technological infrastructure, and the INL
workforce presently numbers approximately 8000.
To support these and other mission-critical
programs and activities and to replace older
buildings and structures that have been removed or
that are presently undergoing deactivation,
decontamination, and demolition (DD&D), some
construction has been completed, such as the
Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) and
laboratory facilities at both RTC and MFC. Before
2021, many more new structures are planned
(Braun, 2006a; INL 2012–2021 Ten Year Site
Plan, 2010).
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