Department of Energy Partners with State and Tribal Governments on Historic Site Preservation Idaho
CASE STUDY
The Idaho National Laboratory Site’s nuclear research and development mission dates to its inception in 1949, when it was called the National Reactor Testing Station where 52 first-of-a-kind nuclear reactors were constructed and demonstrated. Among those reactors were the Experimental Breeder Reactor-I that produced the first electric power from nuclear energy in 1951; the experimental
Bannock Tribes, and invited consulting parties to develop a new programmatic agreement governing Section 106 compliance. The new programmatic agreement supports the ongoing use of Idaho National Laboratory Site scientific and technical facilities while encouraging preservation of their significant components to the extent possible as recommended in the ACHP’s 1991 guidance, Balancing Historic Preservation Needs with the Operation of Highly Technical or Scientific Facilities. The new programmatic agreement provides for a streamlined consultation process, excludes a comprehensive set of routine activities from Section 106 review, and excludes from review property types that have been determined ineligible for listing on the National Register. These and other streamlining approaches will greatly reduce the number of Section 106 reviews and project-specific consultations, allowing DOE-ID, the SHPO, and the Tribes to focus on high-priority preservation needs and projects. The balanced approach to historic preservation delineated in the new programmatic agreement facilitates DOE’s ability to repurpose Idaho National Laboratory Site facilities to support current nuclear energy initiatives. Key Laboratory Site facilities that contributed to DOE’s historic nuclear research mission, such as the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II and the Zero Power Physics Reactor, are being modified to meet the needs of current microreactor technology. An outgrowth of the programmatic agreement is development of a memorandum of agreement between the Idaho SHPO and DOE-ID to provide priority technical assistance for DOE- ID’s Section 106 reviews and to develop “Section 106 Basics” training from the
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Heritage Tribal Office staff, Taylor Haskett and Anna Bowers, and INL Cultural Resource Management Office staff recording an archaeological site during Section 110 inventory, June 2022. (L. Suzann Henrikson/ Battelle Energy Alliance)
SHPO perspective for DOE-ID and contractor employees. The Idaho SHPO technical assistance will be funded by a financial assistance grant from DOE-ID for $100,000. In September 2022, DOE- ID entered into a new five-year agreement with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes that includes a broad scope to provide oversight to DOE-ID’s environment, safety, health, and emergency management programs, including the Cultural Resource Management Program. Through the agreement, the Tribes are involved in DOE- ID’s archaeological resource inventories, Section 106 reviews, evaluation of historic properties, Section 110 research projects, and regular coordination meetings. Draft archaeological site records that document Native American cultural sites are shared with Shoshone-Bannock cultural resources staff for review and consultation on evaluating significance before the records are finalized and submitted to the Idaho SHPO for concurrence. The Tribes have the most knowledge of these resources, and their input is a critical component of accurately documenting and characterizing the resources. DOE-ID and the Tribes have cooperated in this formal relationship since 1992.
boiling water reactor BORAX III that powered the town of Arco, Idaho, which became the first town powered by a nuclear powerplant in 1955; and the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II, which was the backbone of the U.S. breeder reactor effort from 1964 to 1994. Today’s Idaho National Laboratory Site continues that transformative work in development of advanced reactors, microreactors, small modular reactors, and fuel cycle technologies. To enable this important work, the Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office (DOE-ID) consulted with the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the ACHP, the Shoshone-
EBR-II is eligible for the National Register and was spared from demolition through repurposing as a microreactor test bed facility. (Idaho National Laboratory)
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Earth Day Celebration at the INL Site in April 2022 featuring Larae Bill, Anna Bowers, and Taylor Haskett of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Heritage Tribal Office. (Betsy Holmes/DOE)
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IN A SPIRIT OF STEWARDSHIP: A Report on Federal Historic Properties • 2024 | 43
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