Feb. 14 will mark the one-year anniversary of the radiation release that has shut down the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and brought the Department of Energy’s once-successful national transuranic waste program to a sudden, devastating halt with no clear end in sight. The last year has brought more than its share of finger pointing, shoulder shrugging, and saber rattling. There have been record-setting fines levied by New Mexico regulators, fee reductions for contractors at WIPP and Los Alamos National Laboratory, and a handful of firings related to how TRU waste was packaged at LANL.
But there has been almost zero Congressional oversight. Not a single hearing on WIPP. Even worse, a look back through the reporting by Weapons Complex Monitor will show you that few, if any, questions have been asked about the WIPP incidents at any other hearing over the last year – a fact that is simply astonishing considering the number of confirmation hearings for DOE nominees, budget hearings and other opportunities for questions from Congress.
The WIPP shutdown has far-reaching implications for the Department of Energy, its cleanup program and the states that host these sites as well as related repository efforts worldwide. The impacts will be felt by the American taxpayer for years (and very likely decades) to come. And most importantly of all, DOE still doesn’t know what happened after a year of trying. If there ever was a need for informed, targeted Congressional oversight, this is it.
Here are the questions Congress should start with:
- Who at DOE has been or should be held accountable?
- Why did everybody trust beforehand that processes at WIPP and LANL were going well? How will we ensure that DOE keeps Congress and the public informed of potential issues and problems?
- Is a 2016 restart realistic?
- What are the implications for repository programs in the United States and internationally?
- What are the long-term funding implications of the shutdown for the National Transuranic Waste Program? For EM broadly?
- Why has it taken so long to figure out what happened and how to prevent it from happening again?
- How will DOE pay the fines levied by the state of New Mexico in relation to the WIPP incidents? What is the total potential liability?
- What have the WIPP incidents revealed about infrastructure and maintenance deficiencies across the complex? What is the potential funding impact?
- What impact will the WIPP and TRU delays will have on DOE’s relations with other states?
And that is just the beginning. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is too important to the country—and to the world—to let these incidents go by without further inquiry. House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) told WC Monitor last week that he plans to hold a hearing on WIPP this spring. That is good news and would be a good start. And late this week, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz was questioned briefly about WIPP by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) during a hearing on DOE’s FY 2016 budget request. But more action from lawmakers is needed.
It is vital that as DOE continues its search for answers and attempts to restart operations, Congress exercises its oversight responsibilities to ensure the process proceeds down the right path. Make no mistake, such oversight is a responsibility – one that Capitol Hill has been shirking on WIPP thus far.
Martin Schneider
CEO, Exchange Monitor Publications
2/13/2015
