Doe Gives Another $3 Million To Idaho

Money continues to pour into eastern Idaho from the Department of Energy as part of an effort to wean the region’s economy away from the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

The Department of Energy has committed $30 million to eastern Idaho as part of a 1995 nuclear agreement with Gov. Phil Batt. The agreement allows the Department of Energy to store spent nuclear fuel from the Navy and other sources at the laboratory. In return, the DOE will remove all stored waste from Idaho by 2035.

The department transferred another $3 million to the state in mid-December.

The state has used the funding to lure new businesses, help local economic development organizations and assist in educational and research projects that have long-term economic benefits.

“The spent fuel settlement fund is one part of a larger economic diversification strategy that has worked very well so far,” said John Wilcynski, manager of DOE’s Idaho Operations Office.

“When DOE competed the contract to manage the laboratory, we asked industry how they would assist the community in diversifying the economy. Lockheed pledged $2.5 million in corporate money to assist in that area, and the result has been the relocation or expansion of several businesses in eastern Idaho.”