After a delay, the subcontractor that built a new ventilation system at the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site in New Mexico is expected to soon turn over the keys to the project to the prime contractor, according to a federal update.
A Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNESB) staff report on Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) operations, said The Industrial Company was expected to transfer control of the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS) Dec. 2 to Bechtel’s Salado Isolation Mining Contractors. As of Thursday the subcontractor “remains on site to complete a few remaining tasks and support operations as needed,” said a DOE spokesperson.
The Industrial Company earlier intended to turn over the $500-million SSCVS in late October, according to the DNFSB report. The boss of DOE’s Carlsbad field office, Mark Bollinger, said last October the project should be operating in 2026 after all the readiness testing is done.
A Tuesday DOE press release on the start of WIPP’s maintenance outage, said crews are installing the final duct work for the ventilation project expected to triple WIPP’s underground air flow to 540,000 cubic feet per minute.
The Industrial Company, a subsidiary of Kiewit, was brought in to finish construction of the SSCVS after the prior WIPP Amentum-led prime, parted company with the initial subcontractor in 2020.