While old, an underground hoist at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico is not unsafe, according to managers of the transuranic waste disposal site.
“While all the WIPP hoists are experiencing reliability issues due to age and obsolescence, these reliability issues do not present safety risks to employees,” DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said in a Dec. 9 letter to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The bold typeface was part of the DOE letter itself.
In addition, the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has not issued WIPP any recent violations over the condition of the hoist equipment leading into the WIPP underground, according to the letter.
“Since 2019, WIPP has not received an MSHA citation related to hoist operability of any of its active repository hoists,” DOE said.
“In both the nuclear and mining industries, it is acceptable to operate older equipment that may not have the modern features of newer versions or where vendor support is limited, if that equipment is maintained such that it can fulfill its intended function while maintaining safety at or above regulatory standards,” according to the DOE letter.
“In the unlikely event that there is no means of egress (all hoists are inoperable) with personnel still in the underground, there should be no issues initially with the workforce,” according to the letter from DOE. “Ventilation, which is entirely separate from the hoisting systems, would still be available to provide a safe environment for the underground workforce.”
The letter explaining the DOE position on the hoists and other aging WIPP infrastructure was signed by DOE Assistant Secretary for the Office of Environmental Management Tim Walsh.
The letter states that WIPP’s Bechtel-led contractor submitted a Hoisting Capability Project plan for DOE review in September 2025. “This project entails construction of a hoist that will become the Primary Personnel Hoist and take much of the daily load for moving personnel and materials off the Waste Hoist,” DOE said.
DOE is also planning a significant upgrade project for the waste hoist motor and related components. The construction work on that should be carried out during shipping outages in 2027 and 2028, DOE said in the letter.
Last year, DNFSB sought DOE response to concerns about age and degradation of old shaft and hoist equipment facilities that could be pressed into service as an emergency escapeway.
In the letter, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management provided DNFSB with a rundown of scheduled infrastructure projects at WIPP.
DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office and WIPP prime, Bechtel’s Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, “have taken steps to address these infrastructure needs,” according to the letter.
WIPP crews finished refurbishment of the salt pocket project and in July 2025, the Salt Hoist became available for emergency egress for workers, according tot he letter.
“DOE agrees with the Board that WIPP’s aging infrastructure is a critical issue that must continue to be addressed to support long-term mission needs of the DOE complex,” according to the letter.