May 29, 2014

FIRST SHIPMENT OF LOS ALAMOS TRU ARRIVES AT WCS

By ExchangeMonitor

The first shipment of Los Alamos transuranic waste arrived at the Waste Control Specialists facility in Texas yesterday for temporary storage during the shutdown of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The storage will take place under a one-year $8.8 million contract between WCS and WIPP contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership. WIPP has been shut down since a fire and separate radiation release in February, and staging the waste at WCS will allow the Department of Energy to meet a June 30 milestone for the LANL material. “Our commitment to the State of New Mexico is to remove the waste stored aboveground so it would not pose a risk in the event of another wildfire in Los Alamos,” DOE Los Alamos Environmental Programs Office Manager Pete Maggiore said in a statement. “Staging the waste at WCS is the best option available to ensure the Lab meets its commitment without delay.”

So far about 3,200 cubic meters of the 3,706 cubic meters of aboveground transuranic has been largely disposed of at WIPP, and the remaining waste will be sent to WCS in about 100 shipments between now and the end of June to be stored until WIPP reopens. WIPP employees are working in conjunction with WCS to help unload the shipments, WCS spokesman Chuck McDonald said. “For our employees this is a really exciting project,” McDonald said. “Our folks really feel like they are making a contribution to the state of New Mexico.”

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