Transuranic Waste

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) expects in October to solicit bids for design and construction of a facility to treat liquid transuranic waste generated by future production of fissile nuclear-weapon cores, called plutonium pits, according to a recent procurement note. Triad National Security, which since November has managed the New Mexico facility for the National Nuclear […]

The Department of Energy is seeking another five-year certification from the Environmental Protection Agency for its Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. The WIPP Land Withdrawal Act requires EPA recertification every five years to ensure the site’s compliance with federal radioactive waste disposal requirements, according to an executive summary of the application. The package […]

The newly reopened Radioactive Assay Nondestructive Testing (RANT) facility at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has made its first shipment of transuranic material to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in nearly five years. Prior to last week, there had been no TRU waste loading at the facility since May 2014. […]

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality is reviewing Fluor Idaho’s plan to restart sludge waste repackaging at the site where four drums of radioactive waste overheated and blew off their lids at the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory a year ago. The state agency received formal submittal of the corrective action plan April 11, the […]

The Department of Energy is seeking another five-year certification from the Environmental Protection Agency for its Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. The WIPP Land Withdrawal Act requires DOE to seek recertification every five years to ensure the site’s compliance with federal radioactive waste disposal requirements, according to an executive summary of the application. […]

The newly reopened Radioactive Assay Nondestructive Testing (RANT) facility at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has made its first shipment of transuranic material to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in nearly five years. Prior to last week, there had been no TRU waste loading at the facility since May 2014. […]

Idaho-based Energy Department contractor North Wind Group has appointed Jim Furr as its chief information officer. Furr will remain president of subsidiary North Wind Services, the company said in a March press release. The company said it is revamping information technology to support growth, data management, and cyber security. Furr has been with North Wind […]

Limited record keeping at the old Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado might have factored into an April 2018 waste drum “explosion” at the Idaho National Laboratory, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chairman Bruce Hamilton said Tuesday. There were “marginal records kept” on drums of Rocky Flats-origin sludge waste buried at INL for […]

Limited record keeping at the old Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado might have factored into an April 2018 waste drum “explosion” at the Idaho National Laboratory, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chairman Bruce Hamilton said Tuesday. There were “marginal records kept” on drums of sludge waste buried at INL for years before […]

The Energy Department and the state of Idaho have yet to discuss potential shipments of transuranic waste from the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) in New York state to the Idaho National Laboratory during fiscal 2020 and 2021. The fiscal 2020 budget justification for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management envisions sending 24 containers filled with […]

The Energy Department and the state of Idaho have yet to discuss potential shipments of transuranic waste from the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) in New York state to the Idaho National Laboratory during fiscal 2020 and 2021. The budget justification for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management envisions sending defense transuranic waste from the New […]

The Idaho National Laboratory could receive transuranic waste from the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) in New York state in fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021, according to the recent Department of Energy budget justification. The Idaho National Laboratory, which is trying to get rid of a backlog of on-site defense transuranic waste, would serve as […]

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has given its blessing for Waste Control Specialists (WCS) to continue storing transuranic waste from the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory through late December 2020. The commission on March 20 issued an amendment to Waste Control Specialists’ state radioactive materials license allowing it to retain the potentially […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) says the Energy Department should do more to reduce the risk of combustion of stored radioactive waste sludge similar to the April 2018 accident at the Idaho National Laboratory in which four drums blew off their lids. In a March 12 letter, the DNFSB asked Energy Secretary Rick […]

The Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received its first shipment of defense transuranic waste 20 years ago this week. The Energy Department, WIPP prime contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership, and officials in southeastern New Mexico plan various activities in March and April to mark the 20th anniversary of the inaugural shipment, which […]

The Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., received its first shipment of defense transuranic waste 20 years ago this week. The Energy Department, WIPP prime contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership, and officials in southeastern New Mexico are holding various activities in March and April to mark the 20th anniversary of the inaugural shipment, […]

The Department of Energy is prioritizing returning the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico to full-scale emplacement of defense transuranic waste, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Tuesday. Completing a new underground ventilation system and taking advantage of a new accounting method for recording the volume of waste deposited in the salt mine near […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) says the Energy Department should do more to reduce the risk of combustion of stored radioactive waste sludge similar to the April 2018 accident at the Idaho National Laboratory in which four drums blew off their lids. In a March 12 letter, the DNFSB asked Energy Secretary Rick […]

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is poised to give its blessing for Waste Control Specialists (WCS) to continue storing potentially problematic transuranic waste from the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory through late December 2020. The chief clerk for TCEQ is expected this week to issue an amendment to Waste Control Specialists’ state […]

A number of nuclear cleanup sites would make due with less money under the Department of Energy budget plan for the next fiscal year. On March 11, the agency rolled out the broad outlines of its fiscal 2020 budget, with nearly $6.5 billion planned for the Office of Environmental Management — down by over $700 […]

Anyone visiting the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) these days should not count on finding a cheap hotel room around Carlsbad, N.M. Rooms are scarce and midweek rates can run from $148 per night at the Super 8, to $289 at the Days Inn, to $409 at the La Quinta Inns and Suites, […]

Idaho state regulators are reviewing documents drafted by Fluor Idaho, which the company hopes will allow resumption of sludge repackaging this spring at the Idaho National Laboratory facility where four waste drums overheated and ejected their lids last April. The “corrective action plan” and “evaluation of the safety of the situation” reports are being discussed […]

The fiscal 2020 budget proposal for the Department of Energy shows another $15 million for the nearly completed cleanup of the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) in upstate New York. The budget request is roughly equal to the amount SPRU received in fiscal 2019 and triple the $5 million it was allotted in fiscal 2018. […]

Anyone visiting the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico these days should not count on finding a cheap hotel room around Carlsbad, N.M. Rooms are scarce and midweek rates can run from $148 per night at the Super 8, to $289 at the Days Inn, to $409 at the La Quinta […]

Idaho state regulators are reviewing documents drafted by Fluor Idaho, which the company hopes will allow resumption of sludge repackaging this spring at the Idaho National Laboratory facility where four waste drums overheated and ejected their lids last April. The “corrective action plan” and “evaluation of the safety of the situation” reports are being discussed […]

For the second year in a row, the House of Representatives has approved legislation to reauthorize the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York. The bill, introduced by Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and passed by voice vote March 5, is identical to the measure passed in September before Democrats retook control of the House The […]

The Department of Energy does not know yet what action it will take on its proposed reinterpretation of the definition of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White said last week. “We don’t have a real distinct schedule on that. Again, we are trying to take our time and be deliberative,” […]

Operations resumed Thursday at the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico after more than a day of high winds that knocked out power and stranded some workers in an elevator for about three hours. The Carlsbad Current-Argus reported Wednesday that 36 miners were stuck in an elevator from roughly 7 p.m. to […]

The Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) is talking with officials in Washington state about long-term plans for resuming shipments of transuranic waste from the Hanford Site to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. It has been eight years since DOE sent waste from the former plutonium production complex to the underground […]

The former management and operations contractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico failed to fully overcome setbacks in development of a new radioactive waste facility at the site, according to the Energy Department. In a March 1 report, DOE’s Office of Inspector General cited problems Los Alamos National Security faced with an […]