The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant plans (WIPP) currently plans to begin a nearly six-month outage for waste hoist upgrades in July 2027, with work expected to finish in early January 2028, officials said during a Nov. 4 community forum.
The work will include upgrades to the waste hoist control and electrical systems, repairs to the shaft sump and refurbishment of related hoisting equipment. The project is part of WIPP’s longer-term infrastructure improvements outlined in DOE 2021-2031 strategic plan.
DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico and WIPP’s Bechtel-led prime have been discussing the 2027 outage for some time. WIPP is the nation’s only deep underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste.
The usual January maintenance period has been shifted and extended to accommodate the work. Salado Isolation Mining Contractors Deputy Program Manager Ryan Flynn said the schedule was developed in coordination with generator sites over the past year, taking their shipping preferences and contractor availability into account.
DOE and WIPP are coordinating with various DOE generator sites to reduce waste inventories at their facilities before the outage. Officials said waste generated during the work would be stored at the origin locations. Under current WIPP permit requirements, the repository can also store limited quantities of contact-handled transuranic mixed waste in its waste handling building for up to 60 days.
During fiscal 2026, ended Sept. 30, WIPP received 306 shipments, exceeding its annual target by six, according to its online slide presentation. The number of transuranic waste shipments coming from Los Alamos National Laboratory amounted to 116 during the past fiscal year.
DOE and the New Mexico Environment Department are continuing to negotiate a WIPP permit modification that could prioritize more shipments from Los Alamos.
