Transuranic Waste

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 1/15/2016 The Department of Energy is politely pushing back against new research suggesting rock salt might not be a fully safe for underground storage of nuclear waste in New Mexico. Salt beds are used for storage of low-level nuclear waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and have been considered as […]

WC Monitor 1/15/2016 DOE Selects WIPP Permanent Ventilation System Alternative  The Department of Energy on Dec. 23 officially selected its preferred alternative for a permanent ventilation system to be installed at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, the head of DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) said last week. A total of 24 alternatives […]

The New Mexico Environment Department on Jan. 8 signed off on revisions to monitoring of potentially dangerous materials and underground airflow levels at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.   The modifications to WIPP’s state hazardous waste facility permit are intended to increase the safety of workers at the transuranic waste storage site […]

The Department of Energy on Dec. 23 officially selected its preferred alternative for a permanent ventilation system to be installed at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, the head of DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) said last week.   A total of 24 alternatives were considered as the department looks to return ventilation […]

WC Monitor 1/8/2016 Employee Found Dead at WIPP The Eddy County, N.M., Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death last month of a Waste Isolation Pilot Plant worker at the facility. Robert Staffel, 62, appears to have died of natural causes, according to a press release from Nuclear Waste Partnership, the contract operator of the transuranic […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 1/8/2016 The new comprehensive recovery plan for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant now being finalized says with 80 percent confidence that the transuranic waste storage site will reopen for business in late 2016, a senior Department of Energy official said on Thursday. The underground facility near Carlsbad, N.M., has been closed […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 12/18/2015 The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico might be able to resume nuclear waste storage operations using only one of two new ventilation systems planned to be installed in the underground facility, the Department of Energy said this week. The facility’s airflow was significantly curtailed following the February 2014 […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 12/18/2015 The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management expects to need about 240 of the first-of-a-kind containers designed for storing some of the remote-handled transuranic wastes that have been processed and certified at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center in Oak Ridge but can’t be shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot […]

A group of unionized workers at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico have approved a new contract with site contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership.   The contract covers the roughly 255 members of United Steelworkers Local 12-9477, trades and crafts personnel who conduct waste handling, facility operations, maintenance, radiological protection, and mining operations at […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 12/11/2015 A Department of Energy official confirmed that the transition of contractors at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center at Oak Ridge would be completed this week, with North Wind Solutions officially taking over responsibility for management and operations at 6 a.m. Friday. North Wind received the $123.9 million contract – with […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 12/11/2015 Rock salt could be less effective than believed as a subsurface container for nuclear waste, according to new research from the University of Texas at Austin. Salt beds are already used for safe holding of low-level nuclear waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, and have been […]

A Department of Energy official confirmed that the transition of contractors at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center at Oak Ridge will be completed this week, with North Wind Solutions officially taking over responsibility for management and operations at 6 a.m . Friday.    North Wind was awarded the $123.9 million contract – with a three-year […]

Workers have installed more than 5,400 steel bolts in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico in the year since ground control operations resumed at the subterranean transuranic waste storage site, the Department of Energy said on Friday.   The bolts are one element of the advancing program to increase safety for personnel in […]

Rock salt could be less effective than believed as a subsurface container for nuclear waste, according to new research from the University of Texas at Austin.   Salt beds are already used for safe storage of low-level nuclear waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, and have been discussed as a storage […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 12/4/2015 There have been "significant issues" with the safety basis for the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) in Idaho, leading to “underestimating the likelihood and consequences” of some accident scenarios, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. This may have brought about inadequacies in the selection and classification of […]

WC Monitor 12/4/2015   WIPP Receives ‘Safe Havens,’ Increasing Emergency Preparedness The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico recently received eight emergency chambers, which will be placed underground and become operational when the facility resumes full activity, according to a Nov. 24 WIPP press release. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz recently said the expected timeline […]

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico recently received eight emergency chambers, which will be placed underground and become operational when the facility resumes full activity, according to a Nov. 24 WIPP press release. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz recently said the expected timeline for WIPP’s restart is before the start of 2017. Known as […]

There have been "significant issues" with the safety basis for the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) in Idaho, leading to “underestimating the likelihood and consequences” of some accident scenarios, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. This may have brought about inadequacies in the selection and classification of employee and public safety controls, […]

United Steel Workers and Waste Isolation Pilot Plant operator Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) have failed to negotiate a labor agreement, but on Thursday agreed to extend their contract through Dec. 18. The Carlsbad Current-Argus reported on Monday that the 250 unionized employees working for the WIPP contractor could strike by the end of 2015 if […]

WC Monitor 11/20/2015   WIPP EOC Conducting Performance Tests in Advance of Readiness Reviews Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Emergency Operations Center (WIPP/EOC) staff earlier this month conducted a series of “Limited Scope Performance Tests” testing the readiness of the WIPP Emergency Response Organization and the EOC, according to a Nov. 12 Energy Department announcement. “A […]

Diluting and disposing of some 34 metric tons of excess weapons-grade plutonium instead of reprocessing the material at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at Savannah River Site could yield 51.3 metric tons of down-blended plutonium presumably to be emplaced at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, potentially forcing a massive reexamination of WIPP’s design basis, […]

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Emergency Operations Center (WIPP/EOC) staff earlier this month conducted a series of “Limited Scope Performance Tests” testing the readiness of the WIPP Emergency Response Organization and the EOC, according to a Nov. 12 Energy Department announcement. “A series of four exercises were conducted (i.e. earthquake, radiological release, etc.) to thoroughly test […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 11/13/2015   Above-Ground Storage Facility Could Operate Even After WIPP Reopens The Energy Department has implemented 70 percent of corrective actions recommended by DOE’s Accident Investigation Board for recovery of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, DOE Office of Environmental Management Carlsbad Field Office spokesman Tim Runyon said during a presentation in […]

Portage Receives Tech Support Contract WC Monitor 11/13/2015 The Energy Department said Thursday it has awarded incumbent Portage Inc., of Idaho Falls, a $42.4 million contract to provide technical support services to DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office in all program areas. The contract comprises a three-year base period and a two-year option period. The contract includes […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/30/2015 The Department of Energy this week defended itself against criticism by the Carlsbad (N.M.) Mayor’s Nuclear Task Force, whose chairman on Oct. 23 said a delayed release of a DOE report on recovery of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant “undercut” progress being made on WIPP safety culture change, training, and […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/30/2015 House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) on Tuesday said his chamber’s appropriators are including $283 million for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in the fiscal 2016 spending bill, $35 million more than the Obama administration’s request, but that the funding might not be enough to keep […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 11/6/2015 The Energy Department expects to approve a new performance measurement baseline (PMB) for restarting operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant by the end of this year. The document could be released on the late end of that timeline as all levels of DOE leadership would have to vet it […]

The Energy Department expects to have approved a new performance measurement baseline (PMB) for restarting operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant by the end of this year. The document could be released on the late end of that timeline as all levels of DOE leadership are required to have vetted it by the end […]

House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) on Tuesday said his chamber’s appropriators have included $283 million for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in the fiscal 2016 spending bill nearing completion, $35 million more than the Obama administration’s request, but that the funding might not be enough to keep WIPP on track […]

Carlsbad, N.M. Mayor Dale Janway’s nuclear advisory committee on Friday criticized the Energy Department Office of Enterprise Assessments’ timing of its release of a Waste Isolation Pilot Plant safety report that found that WIPP operations were more focused on meeting the facility’s scheduled reopening date than performing activities properly. The analysis examined WIPP operations from […]