DOE cleanup office seeks more time on WIPP response to DNFSB

The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup branch says it needs more time to put together a detailed response on infrastructure replacement and refurbishment at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico.

The current top executive at DOE’s Office of Environmental Management requested a 45-day extension to the current Oct. 16 due date in an Aug. 22 letter to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Acting Chairman Thomas Summers. 

Principal deputy assistant secretary for Environmental Management Roger Jarrell II requested the deadline be moved back until Nov. 30. At the same time, the cleanup office is still shooting to brief the board by Oct. 16, Jarrell said in the letter. 

In June, DNFSB sent a letter to DOE asking to be briefed on renovation of an old mine shaft and hoist that could be used to evacuate workers from underground in the event of an emergency. The safety board sought a briefing within 120 days, which would be Oct. 16.

DOE representatives initially discussed the WIPP shaft situation with the board on July 1 and said that putting together a detailed response could take more time, but they can still give a short brief by the due date.

WIPP is the nation’s only underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste. Bechtel-led prime Salado Isolation Mining Contractors  operates the facility near Carlsbad for DOE.