The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has begun analyzing whether the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico would be a viable facility for storage of plutonium that would be downblended at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
In its fiscal 2017 budget, Congress mandated that the nongovernmental research organization conduct a study to determine if WIPP could house downblended plutonium – diluted using inhibitor materials to convert it into a form that cannot be used to make nuclear weapons.
To assess WIPP’s viability, the National Academy formed a committee of 13 experts, ranging from Department of Energy officials to college professors who specialize in related applicable such as chemistry and environmental health. The committee has started a fact-gathering campaign on the plutonium and on WIPP.
The material in question is 34 metric tons of plutonium that must be eliminated under a 2000 U.S.-Russian nonproliferation deal. For now, the current U.S. pathway is to convert the plutonium into mixed-oxide fuel for commercial nuclear reactors. But the plant being built at Savannah River for that purpose, the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF), is at risk of cancellation by DOE after falling years behind schedule and projected to cost billions more than anticipated.
Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences to assess DOE’s plans to ship, receive, and store the processed plutonium, all within the scope of WIPP’s current and future operations. Part of the National Academy’s work will involve ensuring the downblended material is suitable for WIPP storage.
The National Academy is also looking into how easily WIPP could mine more storage panels to house the downblended material, and if the processed plutonium would be in compliance with safety and regulatory standards.
National Academies senior program officer Jennifer Heimberg, the project’s study director, said work began last week with a three-day data-gathering session in Washington, D.C. It is scheduled in late 2018 to present a list of conclusions and recommendations to Capitol Hill.
