The Energy Department is seeking public comment until Jan. 15 on plans to build a 65,280- cubic-foot above-ground concrete storage facility at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., for contact-handled transuranic waste.
The comment period opened Dec. 15 on the draft environmental assessment, required by the National Environmental Policy Act. The surface storage facility should give WIPP extra flexibility to cope with fluctuations in waste shipping schedules and waste emplacement, according to the draft EA.
“Because facility maintenance and transportation-related outages occur, the DOE has identified a mission-related need to develop expanded storage capability for TRU waste at the WIPP facility,” the department said.
As many as 408 TRU concrete waste overpack containers could be stored on the surface at WIPP for up to 365 days, according to the environmental document.
Comments can be submitted electronically to WIPP.EA@WIPP.ws.
The Energy Department will review the comments prior to issuance of a final environmental assessment, which could lead to either a finding of no significant impact or development of an environmental impact statement.
“DOE has prepared this draft environmental assessment (DEA) to determine whether the potential environmental impacts of the proposed project would be significant to human health and the environment in accordance with DOE’s NEPA implementing procedures,” DOE said in the document.
WIPP is the nation’s only underground storage facility for TRU waste from other DOE facilities. It was closed for nearly three years after two accidents in February 2014.