Transuranic Waste

PHOENIX – The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has since 2017 received only half as many transuranic waste shipments annually as it did prior to a February 2014 underground radiation leak that halted operations for three years – but that could soon change, officials said Wednesday. Encouraged by the startup […]

PHOENIX — The top manager for the Bechtel affiliate now in charge of the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico expects a new underground ventilation system to be operating by late 2025 or early 2026. Ken Harrawood, president and program manager of Salado Isolation Mining, which took over as prime contract […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., continues to study fire safety and other potential hazards that might arise from use of electric vehicles powered by big lithium-ion batteries, a federal safety panel said this month. “These hazards include fire, smoke, and combustion products, including hydrogen fluoride associated with the large […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., continues to study fire safety and other potential hazards that might arise from use of electric vehicles powered by big lithium-ion batteries, a federal safety panel said this month. “These hazards include fire, smoke, and combustion products, including hydrogen fluoride associated with the large […]

Following requests from citizen groups last month, the New Mexico Environment Department agreed to extend the comment period by 60 days for a 10-year permit renewal for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Interested parties now have until 5 p.m. Mountain Time on April 19 to weigh in on the permit renewal for […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received 31 shipments of transuranic waste during January, according to figures posted recently on the agency’s public website. Most of the shipments, 23, came from the Idaho National Laboratory. Six originated from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and there was one […]

Following requests from citizen groups last month, the New Mexico Environment Department agreed to extend the comment period by 60 days for a 10-year permit renewal for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Interested parties now have until 5 p.m. Mountain Time on April 19 to weigh in on the permit renewal for […]

Effective Saturday Feb. 4, Bechtel’s Salado Isolation Mining Contractors took over operation of the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO), which also includes New Mexico-based subcontractor Los Alamos Technical Associates, said in a Friday evening press release it was about to officially take over as prime […]

Effective Saturday Feb. 4, Bechtel’s Salado Isolation Mining Contractors took over operation of the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO), which also includes New Mexico-based subcontractor Los Alamos Technical Associates, said in a Friday evening press release it was about to officially take over as prime […]

The prime contractor for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has added a new attorney to its defense team in a racial discrimination case brought by an employee who claims he was unfairly passed over for promotion. With a new trial date and new federal magistrate judge in place, the […]

The Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico is working with Carlsbad city officials to secure federal money for electric vehicle charging stations in the community, a spokesperson said in a Tuesday email. The local Carlsbad Current Argus newspaper reported last week the city and DOE’s Carlsbad field office management have agreed to […]

The Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico is working with Carlsbad city officials to secure federal money for electric vehicle charging stations in the community, a spokesperson said in a Tuesday email. The local Carlsbad Current Argus newspaper reported last week the city and DOE’s Carlsbad field office management have agreed to […]

Mark Bollinger is now the acting manager for the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico, which oversees the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The DOE Office of Environmental Management announced earlier in January that Carlsbad manager Reinhard Knerr is moving to the Portsmouth-Paducah Project Office to become the deputy manager helping to oversee […]

The prime contractor for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has added a new attorney to its defense team in a racial discrimination case brought by an employee who claims he was unfairly passed over for promotion. With a new trial date and new federal magistrate judge in place, the […]

As expected, citizen groups in New Mexico have asked the state Environment Department to extend the comment period by 60 days on a 10-year permit renewal for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The draft permit is more than 1,200 pages long so granting the extension until April 19 is justified, according to […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot plant near Carlsbad, N.M., will carry out a three week maintenance outage from Feb. 27 through March 19, a spokesperson for the transuranic waste disposal site said in a Thursday email. Plans include upkeep and calibration of ventilation fans as well as testing and balancing underground ventilation, the […]

Roughly a quarter of the way through fiscal 2023 the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has received 107 shipments of transuranic waste, about on pace for meeting its 400-shipment target for the fiscal year ending in September, DOE and its contractor told New Mexico lawmakers Tuesday. There have been 107 shipments to the […]

As expected, citizen groups in New Mexico have asked the state Environment Department to extend the comment period by 60 days on a 10-year permit renewal for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The draft permit is more than 1,200 pages long so granting the extension until April 19 is justified, according to […]

Roughly a quarter of the way through fiscal 2023 the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has received 107 shipments of transuranic waste, about on pace for meeting its 400-shipment target for the fiscal year ending in September, DOE and its contractor told New Mexico lawmakers Tuesday. There have been 107 shipments to the […]

This week’s news that Reinhard Knerr will leave his job as manager of the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office to take a deputy manager post at the Portsmouth-Paducah Project Office was unusual but not shocking, industry sources said Thursday. Knerr is the second permanent Carlsbad Field Office manager since the spring of 2019. Deputy […]

In a demonstration of its largest domestic program to reduce stocks of weaponizable nuclear material, the National Nuclear Security Administration in December shipped deweaponized plutonium out of South Carolina for permanent disposal, the agency said recently. It was a proof-of-concept run for the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program, which began as a post-Cold-War plowshares effort with […]

By the end of this month, the manager of the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico will leave to become deputy manager of the Portsmouth-Paducah Project Office in Lexington, Ky., an agency executive said Tuesday. Carlsbad manager Reinhard Knerr, responsible for overseeing the agency’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant since July 2020, is […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., had its busiest month of 2022 during December, receiving 53 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste. Forty shipments originated from the Idaho National Laboratory, 12 came from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, one came from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. […]

By the end of this month, the manager of the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico will leave to become deputy manager of the Portsmouth-Paducah Project Office in Lexington, Ky., an agency executive said Tuesday. Carlsbad manager Reinhard Knerr, responsible for overseeing the agency’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant since July 2020, is […]

The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., had its busiest month of 2022 during December, receiving 53 shipments of defense-related transuranic waste. Forty shipments originated from the Idaho National Laboratory, 12 came from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, one came from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. […]

Effective Jan. 29, longtime federal manager Randy Hendrickson will succeed Jay Mullis as the acting head of regulatory affairs and policy at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. Mullis, who has filled the position for many months, will return to his job as manager of the cleanup field office at the Oak Ridge […]

The mayor of Carlsbad, N.M., Dale Janway, said in a Sunday newspaper column he wants the Department of Energy’s deep underground disposal site for transuranic waste to stay open for a long time and is wary of the New Mexico Environment Department gaining more clout over the future of the facility. “It is certainly our […]

The mayor of Carlsbad, N.M., Dale Janway, said in a Sunday newspaper column he wants the Department of Energy’s deep underground disposal site for transuranic waste to stay open for a long time and is wary of the New Mexico Environment Department gaining more clout over the future of the facility. “It is certainly our […]

The New Mexico Environment Department on Tuesday kicked off a 60-day comment period on a 10-year permit renewal for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, with the state fighting the federal government’s attempt to keep the mine’s closure date open-ended. The DOE has said it needs the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to […]

The outgoing prime contractor for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., earned 66% of its subjective fee and about 72% of its total potential fee for its work during fiscal 2022, according to a fee scorecard released Tuesday. In a Dec. 20 letter to Nuclear Waste Partnership’s president and project […]