facility for testing; all but three are out of service. On February 1, 2005, Battelle Energy Alliance took over operation of the lab from Bechtel, merged with Argonne National Laboratory-West, and the facility name was changed to "Idaho National Laboratory" (INL). At this time the site's clean-up activities were moved to a separate contract, the Idaho Cleanup Project, which is currently managed by the Idaho Environmental Coalition , LLC. Research activities were consolidated in the newly named Idaho National Laboratory. According to AP news reports in April 2018, a single barrel of "radioactive sludge" ruptured while being prepared for transport to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Southeast New Mexico for permanent storage. The 55-gallon barrel that ruptured is part of the badly-documented radioactive waste from the Rocky Flats Plant near Denver. Access In the Snake River Plain, most of INL is high desert with scrub vegetation and a number of facilities scattered throughout the area; the average elevation of the complex is above sea level. INL is accessible by U.S. Route 20, and U.S. Route 26, but most of the area (except Experimental Breeder Reactor I) is restricted to authorized personnel and requires appropriate security clearance. The tiny town of Atomic City is on the INL's southern border, and the Craters of the Moon National Monument is to the southwest. Research Nuclear Energy Projects Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) One part of this program to develop improved nuclear power plants is the "Next Generation Nuclear Plant" or NGNP, which would be the demonstration of a new way to use nuclear energy for more than electricity. The heat generated from nuclear fission in the plant could provide process heat for hydrogen production and other industrial purposes, while also generating electricity. And the NGNP would use a high-temperature gas reactor, which would have redundant safety systems that rely on natural physical processes more than human or mechanical intervention. INL worked with private industry to develop the NGNP between 2005 and 2011. It was commissioned to lead this effort by the United States Department of Energy as a result of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Since 2011, the project has languished and funding for it ceased. The design for this reactor is currently owned by Framatome. Fuel Cycle Research & Development (FCRD) The Fuel Cycle Research & Development program aims to help expand nuclear energy's benefits by addressing some of the