News By Location

A nuclear reactor safety code developed at the INEEL could help prevent another Chernobyl-type accident. INEEL engineers have put the RELAP5-3D computer code into a training module for use by many countries. One version has been translated into Russian. The five-DVD set is available to engineers operating Russian reactors of the same design as the Chernobyl reactor.

Eric Loewen, an engineer at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, has been chosen to serve as the American Nuclear Society's 2005 Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Science and Engineering Fellow.

The US Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) and Bechtel, the internationally recognized engineering and construction company, announced today that they are collaborating on critical infrastructure testing. Bechtel, which designs and builds critical infrastructure worldwide from nuclear power plants and telecommunications systems to road systems and bridges, is interested in the INEEL's ability to test and evaluate critical infrastructure on a scalable basis on its remote and secure 890-square mile site.

The INEEL will be home to a test center that enhances security of computer-controlled systems in this country. The Control Systems Security and Test Center, sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, will be dedicated Aug. 19, in Idaho Falls. Center customers, such as utilities and manufacturers, can perform controlled, real-world tests of systems designed to protect the national infrastructure.

If he'd only had an office computer and online treasure maps, Indiana Jones might have avoided all those snakes, scrapes and sneaky rivals. Now, archaeologists exploring the southeastern Idaho desert have a new tool that Indy would really die for. Computer scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's INEEL have developed a geographic computer system that sifts through data from various sources to help find and map archaeological sites. The system will save archaeologists time, money -- and maybe some digging.

The INEEL is designing a prototype, remotely controlled system that will permanently close spent nuclear fuel containers before they are put in a government disposal repository. Nevada's Yucca Mountain is being studied as the site for the repository. The system is called the Waste Package Closure System, and the INEEL will test its operation and equipment. Construction of the prototype is scheduled to start this year.

Yellowstone National Park may soon become more accessible in both winter and summer, thanks to collaborative efforts to develop a new alternative fuel vehicle.

DOE has issued a report on the design of a hydrogen fuel pilot plant in Arizona. The report summarizes the design of the plant and lessons learned in plant design and construction. The report is issued through DOE's Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity. The report is available on DOE's Web page under Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

A modernized version of the traditional Yellowstone National Park tour bus has been developed as a low-emission, cost-effective community/transit shuttle bus of the future.

Mammograms, X-rays and other pricey medical scans do little good if doctors can't see the tiny changes that signal early stages of disease. But such warning signs are often too subtle to spot by eye, and too complex for computers to interpret. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory have developed the Change Detection System, technology that highlights slight differences between digital images.