Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Congressional Hearings Transcript

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QUESTIONS FROM CHAIRMAN JAMES A. MCCLURE
Question 8: Of the safety research facilities at the Idaho National
Engineering Laboratory, which are still operating? Which are
on standby? Which are permanently shutdown? Was the
decision to shutdown these facilities based on budgetary
considerations or on the lack of need for further safety
research? Could we reactivate these facilities if needed?
In what time-period? At what cost?
Answer: None of the following six safety research facilities at the
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) are operating.
The Power Burst Facility (PBF), most recently used for severe
accident and source term research, is on a standby status,
due to NRC budgetary constraints. NRC concluded that the
Information obtained from other facilities, while not as good
as that from the PBF, was justified based on cost-benefit
considerations. It could be reactivated in 12 weeks at a
cost of $500,000 and operated for $6.5 million per year plus
the cost of fuel trains and analysis.
The Loss-of-Fuel Test Facility (LOFT), used for large scale
reactor system accident simulation, was permanently shut down
this spring. The cost of facility operation compared to the
value of experimental results was not favorable for continued
operation of this reactor. The LOFT reactor has been removed
from the containment/control room complex and cannot be
reused. The building complex is now in a decontaminated
state.