Navy eyes new facility for nuclear warship fuel in eastern Idaho

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The Associated Press

In this Monday, May 11, 2015 photo, nuclear waste is being stored in underground containers at the Idaho National Laboratory about 50 miles west of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Officials at an Idaho nuclear facility say they can safely handle two shipments of 25 spent fuel rods for research and that it won’t start to turn the state into a nuclear waste dump. Two former Idaho governors who fought to keep nuclear waste out of Idaho say the shipments violate a 1995 agreement and are the start of more nuclear waste to come. (AP Photo/Keith Ridler)

BOISE, Idaho — The Navy wants to build a new facility at a federal nuclear site in eastern Idaho to handle spent fuel from the nation’s fleet of nuclear-powered warships.

The Navy and U.S. Department of Energy are taking public comments through Aug. 10 on a draft environmental impact statement for the jointly-operated Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program at the Idaho National Laboratory.

Officials also say a new facility at the 890-square-mile site is needed to meet defueling and refueling schedules for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines so they can be redeployed.

The draft document says the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is scheduled for delivery in 2016, and that new nuclear powered submarines are also under construction.

Public meetings are planned in early August in Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Twin Falls.

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