The total life cycle cost of the project will total $1.189 billion and involves the design, construction, and operation of the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Facility (AMWTP) to meet the milestones -- agreed to by DOE and the State of Idaho -- for getting nuclear waste out of Idaho. In addition to Morrison Knudsen, the team led by BNFL Inc. includes: Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), BNFL Engineering Ltd. (BEL), GTS Duratek, Manufacturing Sciences Corporation (MSC), Rocky Mountain Remediation Services, L.L.C. (RMRS), and Pajarito Scientific Corporation (PSC).

BNFL Inc. is the American subsidiary of BNFL, an international nuclear fuel-cycle and radioactive waste management services company headquartered in the United Kingdom. BNFL brings 50 years experience in the design, licensing, construction and operation of private nuclear facilities and has completed $12 billion in fixed-price capital projects since 1980. BNFL Inc. has several contracts at DOE sites throughout the U.S.

In making the announcement, MK President and Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Tinstman noted that RMRS, jointly owned by MK and BNFL, is the environmental restoration and waste management contractor at the Rocky Flats Site in Colorado, where a majority of the waste to be treated at the INEL Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Facility was produced. INEL's AMWTP facility will treat at least 99 percent of approximately 65,000 cubic meters of transuranic and alpha wastes currently stored at INEL, and have additional flexibility and capacity to treat an additional 20,000 cubic meters of optional waste.

The facility's integrated treatment process will achieve an overall waste volume reduction of more than 65 percent, and will result in waste forms that can be accepted either by the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) or a low level waste storage/disposal facility. To treat the plutonium-contaminated mixed waste at the INEL, the BNFL team will employ proven technologies from its Sellafield site in the United Kingdom, including two waste encapsulation plants and a waste treatment complex designed to treat plutonium-contaminated waste at much greater levels of contamination than the waste which will be treated at the INEL's AMWTP.

The AMWTP contract will be executed in three phases. In Phase I, which extends through 1999, the BNFL Inc. team will obtain permits and the authorization basis for facility operations, and MK will assist in finalizing the design and business approach. In Phase II, MK will manage construction of the facility to meet the completion date of December 31, 2002. Phase III extends through 2015 and will entail plant operations, waste treatment, and transportation of the waste out of Idaho.

• Morrison Knudsen Corporation has more than five decades of experience in the nuclear industry, including more than 40 years at the INEL. MK will be responsible for all architectural, engineering and construction management services associated with the AMWTP.
• SAIC, which has been a part of INEL since the 1970s, will provide all permitting and regulatory support, working with both the stakeholders and the regulators to ensure a safe and effective treatment facility is built and operated.
• BEL will provide the BNFL team with expertise in the design of the highly advanced instrumentation and robotics technologies, as well as proven major nuclear engineering and project management experience.
• RMRS, the waste manager at the Rocky Flats Site in Colorado, will support the BNFL team in bringing an unequaled knowledge of the waste characteristics -- the majority of the waste emanates from Rocky Flats -- as well as expertise in the areas of mixed waste treatment, storage, and disposal operations. RMRS is jointly owned by MK and BNFL.
• Team members that will provide specialty technologies include: GTS Duratek, selected for its unparalleled experience in commercial scale, radioactive waste vitrification; MSC, chosen for its unique, large-scale specialty metal melting and recycling capabilities; and PSC, which represents the leading edge in proven and unique waste characterization systems.

Return to MK News Releases

Return to MK Home Page