The head of the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico says a recent government watchdog report on rundown infrastructure at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) was mostly a “retrospective” on the former prime contractor.
DOE Carlsbad field manager Mark Bollinger addressed a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found key WIPP infrastructure was in “substandard or inadequate condition in 2023.” Bollinger made his comments during a Wednesday public meeting.
A copy of Bollinger’s slide presentation is available here.
The recent GAO report centered on infrastructure woes at the salt mine under Amentum-led Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP), Bollinger said during a town hall-type meeting. Bechtel-led Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO) took over at WIPP February 2023.
“The GAO report and the discussion you had about contractors is all about the previous contractor,” Bollinger told a questioner. “It was all about NWP, the prior contractor.”
The DOE Carlsbad boss said a key reason the Amentum-led joint venture was not retained to run WIPP was because of struggles by the first subcontractor NWP brought in to develop a new ventilation system to triple underground airflow.
“The sub that they hired to start SSCVS [the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System] were not experienced in what they were about to do and that’s why they failed,” Bollinger said.
After NWP let the first subcontractor go, it hired a replacement, Kiewit’s The Industrial Company for $163 million in April 2021, to finish the ventilation project. and they have effectively got the job done.
Bollinger credited the Kiewit company with effectively finishing the ventilation project construction. Nevertheless, slow progress by the first sub “would be probably a primary reason why NWP did not get to continue as our contractor,” Bollinger said.
During recent years and the current fiscal year, DOE is dedicating hundreds of millions of dollars to infrastructure modernization at WIPP, Bollinger said.
The Carlsbad field office manager also said the GAO report found no problems with safety at WIPP.
In response to questions from various in-state citizen groups, Bollinger said WIPP is prioritizing in-state shipments of defense-related transuranic waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
Idaho National Laboratory has been the largest shipper to WIPP for a number of years. More LANL shipments have been sought by New Mexico lawmakers and citizen groups who often cite the risk of wildfires around Los Alamos.
“LANL is a big issue,” Bollinger said. “We always take LANL waste first when it is available.” If they can send five, we take five, if send one take one … but “it has to be ready to ship.”
WIPP received six shipments from Los Alamos in June and Bollinger expects a big uptick in LANL traffic in the coming months. LANL managers have said crews have finished excavating and slicing up corrugated metal pipes at Los Alamos for shipment to WIPP.
During the hybrid public meeting, required under WIPP’s current license with the New Mexico Environment Department, Bollinger also heard complaints about lack of transparency when it comes to modifications in the Salado contract.