DOE Officials Visit Fort St. Vrain Spent Fuel Storage Facility in Colorado

Tim Walsh, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (EM), recently visited the Fort St. Vrain spent nuclear fuel storage facility near Platteville in northern Colorado. The facility is managed by the DOE's Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) and its contractor, Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC).

During the visit, Walsh inspected the storage facility and multiple supporting buildings to learn about the operational mission and historical background of the Fort St. Vrain facility. The facility currently stores spent nuclear fuel from the former Fort St. Vrain power station, which operated using gas-cooled reactor technology from 1979 to 1989, after which it was shut down and decommissioned, with the original site later converted to a natural gas power plant.

The Fort St. Vrain spent nuclear fuel storage facility is one of two DOE-owned facilities of its kind licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The other facility is located within the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) site and is also managed by ICP and IEC.

Walsh stated that the DOE has accumulated long-term experience in the safe, reliable management and storage of spent nuclear fuel, and that the work of the Fort St. Vrain facility staff helps the DOE fulfill its cleanup responsibilities and ensure the safety of surrounding communities.

In recent years, ICP and IEC have implemented multiple upgrades at the Fort St. Vrain storage facility, including improvements to roads, grounds, supporting buildings, structural facilities, and security equipment, to enhance facility safety assurance capabilities and emergency preparedness. These efforts are also part of EM's mission to address legacy nuclear facility issues and maintain national security objectives.

Currently, an EM security force provides around-the-clock protection for the Fort St. Vrain facility. In recent years, relevant organizations have also improved working areas and training conditions for security personnel and upgraded training facilities equipped with virtual simulators.