WIPP receives 49 shipments in April, most since August

Shipments to the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) appear to be back at a normal pace, with the facility receiving 49 waste shipments in April.

The numbers, posted on the public WIPP website as of May 15, would represent the highest monthly total since the 50 shipments the disposal site received in August 2024, but lower than the 54 received in April 2024.

Of the 49 shipments, 33 of them came from the Idaho National Lab (INL), followed by seven from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, seven from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and two  from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in New Mexico. 

April was the WIPP’s second month in its return to operations, following a two-month outage at the 16-square-mile plant. WIPP is the nation’s only repository for defense-related transuranic (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.

This year’s annual outage included duct installation for a new ventilation system and the rebuild of a salt pocket, which is a large steel bin where salt dug from a mine is placed prior to being lifted above ground.

So far, in fiscal 2025, which started October 1, 2024, WIPP has received 154 shipments, with 109 of the shipments coming from the Idaho lab. By comparison, the facility received 241 shipments from October 2023 through April 2024 last fiscal year.