Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Cover
- Document and Entity Information
Financial Statements
Notes to Financial Statements
Accounting Policies
- Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)
Notes Tables
Notes Details

Commitments and Contingencies (Details Narrative)

v3.8.0.1

Commitments and Contingencies (Details Narrative) - USD ($)		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	May 01, 2017	Sep. 30, 2003	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2016
Interest income, other			$ 34,000	$ 31,000	$ 105,000	$ 78,000
Letters of credit outstanding, amount			2,675,000		2,675,000
Bond outstanding			8,253,000		8,253,000
Amendment to the Revised Loan Agreement [Member] \| PNC Bank [Member]
Line of credit facility reduction, additional reduction					750,000
Perma-Fix Northwest Richland, Inc [Member] \| Standby Letter of Credit for New Bonding Mechanism [Member]
Debt instrument, collateral amount			2,500,000		2,500,000
American International Group, Inc [Member]
Period of finite risk insurance policy		25 years
Maximum allowable coverage of insurance policy			39,000,000		39,000,000
Financial assurance coverage amount under insurance policy			29,473,000		29,473,000
Sinking fund related to insurance policy			15,642,000		15,642,000		$ 15,546,000
Interest earned on sinking fund			1,171,000		1,171,000		1,075,000
Interest income, other			$ 35,000	24,000	$ 96,000	62,000
Insurers obligation to entity on termination of contract			100.00%		100.00%
American International Group, Inc [Member] \| Perma-Fix Northwest Richland, Inc [Member]
Interest income, other			$ 2,000	$ 7,000	$ 10,000	$ 14,000
Interest earned on sinking fund under second insurance policy							241,000
Release of the sinking fund related to second the insurance policy	$ 5,951,000
American International Group, Inc [Member] \| Perma-Fix Northwest Richland, Inc [Member] \| Credit Facility Secured by a Bond [Member]
Financial assurance coverage amount under a bond			$ 7,000,000		$ 7,000,000
American International Group, Inc [Member] \| Other Noncurrent Assets [Member] \| Perma-Fix Northwest Richland, Inc [Member]
Sinking fund related to second insurance policy							$ 5,941,000

- Definition

The total amount of the bonds outstanding as of the reporting date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	PESI_BondOutstanding
Namespace Prefix:	PESI_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the financial assurance coverage amount under a bond.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	PESI_FinancialAssuranceCoverageAmountUnderABond
Namespace Prefix:	PESI_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the financial assurance coverage amount under insurance policy.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	PESI_FinancialAssuranceCoverageAmountUnderInsurancePolicy
Namespace Prefix:	PESI_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Insurer's obligation to entity on termination of contract in terms of percentage of sinking fund.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	PESI_InsurersObligationToEntityOnTerminationOfContract
Namespace Prefix:	PESI_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the interest earned on sinking fund.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	PESI_InterestEarnedOnSinkingFund
Namespace Prefix:	PESI_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the interest earned on sinking fund under second insurance policy.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	PESI_InterestEarnedOnSinkingFundUnderSecondInsurancePolicy
Namespace Prefix:	PESI_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the amount of additional borrowing reduction pursuant to an amendment of the debt agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	PESI_LineOfCreditFacilityReductionAdditionalReduction
Namespace Prefix:	PESI_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Maximum allowable coverage of insurance policy against annual inflation and other performance and surety bond requirements.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	PESI_MaximumAllowableCoverageOfInsurancePolicy
Namespace Prefix:	PESI_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the period of finite risk insurance policy.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	PESI_PeriodOfFiniteRiskInsurancePolicy
Namespace Prefix:	PESI_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the decrease to the sinking fund related to the second insurance policy.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	PESI_ReleaseOfTheSinkingFundRelatedToSecondTheInsurancePolicy
Namespace Prefix:	PESI_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the sinking fund related to the insurance policy.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	PESI_SinkingFundRelatedToInsurancePolicy
Namespace Prefix:	PESI_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the sinking fund related to the second insurance policy.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	PESI_SinkingFundRelatedToSecondInsurancePolicy
Namespace Prefix:	PESI_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of assets pledged to secure a debt instrument.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 470
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=75038535&loc=d3e64711-112823

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentCollateralAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of interest income earned from interest bearing assets classified as other.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InterestIncomeOther
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The total amount of the contingent obligation under letters of credit outstanding as of the reporting date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LettersOfCreditOutstandingAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=PESI_AmendmentToTheRevisedLoanAgreementMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityAxis=PESI_PNCBankMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=PESI_PermaFixNorthwestRichlandIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=PESI_StandbyLetterOfCreditForNewBondingMechanismMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CounterpartyNameAxis=PESI_AmericanInternationalGroupIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=PESI_CreditFacilitySecuredByABondMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=us-gaap_OtherNoncurrentAssetsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: