The Department of Energy is said to be reviewing a study on options for dealing with troublesome transuranic waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico that is currently stranded at the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) site in Texas.
A source Wednesday said the feasibility study is complete and has been delivered to DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, which will decide upon future actions.
In 2014, Waste Control Specialists received more than 300 drums of TRU waste from Los Alamos that normally would have gone to DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. However, WIPP had closed earlier that year following a radiation release in the underground mine. It was subsequently determined the material had been released from a container that originated at Los Alamos, and perhaps 113 of the drums sent to Texas held the same incorrectly remediated nitrate salts mixture.
In November 2017, DOE announced its contractor had finished treating 60 potentially combustible containers which were left at LANL and preparing them for ultimate shipment to WIPP.
In March 2017, DOE contracted Idaho-based SUNSI JV, under a nearly $2 million task order, to analyze options for the waste so it can ultimately be shipped to WIPP. The department wanted four options studied. They were: stabilizing the waste on-site at WCS and shipping it to another DOE site for treatment prior to ultimate shipment to WIPP; no treatment at WCS but shipping it back to LANL for treatment; shipping it to another commercial facility for treatment and shipment to WIPP; or shipping directly to WIPP for disposal.
In December 2017, the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) allowed WCS to hold on to the material at its Andrews County facility until Dec. 23, 2018. No extension has been issued to date, TCEQ spokesman Brian McGovern said by email.
The Energy Department could not immediately be reached for comment.
