The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico received 53 shipments of transuranic (TRU) waste in September, marking its highest total since April and putting a strong end to a challenging fiscal year.
The September total is significantly more than the 29 shipments of TRU waste sent in August, and the most since 55 shipments were sent to WIPP in April.
Of the 53 shipments sent in September, 22 came from the Idaho National Laboratory, according to WIPP’s receipt database. Another 17 came from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, about 350 miles north of Carlsbad, N.M. near where WIPP is located. The Savannah River Site in South Carolina sent 12 shipments and two more came from Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, managed for DOE by Bechtel’s Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, is the nation’s only repository for defense-related TRU waste, material contaminated with radioactive elements during nuclear missions. It typically includes protective clothing, tools, rags, equipment, and miscellaneous items contaminated with small amounts of plutonium.
For fiscal year 2026, which ran from Oct. 1, 2025 through Sept. 30, 2026, WIPP received 305 shipments, with 141 coming from Idaho. By comparison, the facility received 432 shipments in fiscal year 2025.
The drop in TRU waste receipts was caused primarily by a suspension in operations in May, due to failed equipment at WIPP’s Air Intake Shaft Hoist and its Salt Hoist. The facility only received 23 shipments in May before the pause, and 17 shipments in July when operations resumed. At full strength, and depending on individual sites’ ability to send their waste, WIPP often sees more than 50 shipments in a given month, and sometimes upwards of 60 shipments.
DOE said last month that it plans to suspend operations at the plant for half of 2027, to make significant strides in equipment maintenance. The annual, two-month outage to begin the year saiwill expand to three months. Then, WIPP will reopen for three months to catch up on waste shipments before going offline for another three months.
The New Mexico Environment Department has sought to modify WIPP’s state permit for the second time in less than four years to mandate more shipments from Los Alamos. The DOE Office of Environmental Management and the state are in talks to resolve the issue.
