NWP ?Disappointed? With Slashed FY?14 Fee for WIPP Work

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant M&O contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership is “disappointed” after receiving only 7 percent of available fee in Fiscal Year 2016 from the Department of Energy, the contractor said in a statement yesterday. Waste operations at WIPP have been shut down since February 2014 incidents including a salt truck fire and a radiological release, leading to DOE actions to severely reduce NWP’s fee. However, the contractor stressed its progress since the incidents. “Nuclear Waste Partnership completed numerous corrective action measures in 2014 and actively worked to recover the WIPP underground in preparation for the resumption of operations,” according to the contractor statement. “This has included extensive maintenance activities on underground equipment, upgrading the facilities emergency management systems and conducting decontamination activities in the underground. Although the company feels the award fee score does not fairly recognize the quality of the recovery effort, we also want to put the events of 2014 behind us and focus our entire attention on recovering the WIPP facility.”

 

NWP currently is undertaking decontamination activities in the mine’s underground in preparation for restarting initial waste operations in 2016. “Nuclear Waste Partnership remains committed to working with the Department, our local stakeholders and regulators to ensure the nuclear safety systems at WIPP are fully restored so the facility can resume its important national mission of disposing of defense transuranic waste,” NWP said. “We are proud of our employees and their many accomplishments during the difficult and challenging recovery process.”