Transuranic (TRU) waste shipments to the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M. were cut short in May, after issues with both of the facility’s hoists led to a temporary shutdown.
Prior to the shutdown, WIPP received 23 TRU waste shipments in May, according to the facility’s receipt database. By comparison, the plant received 55 shipments in April, and 53 shipments in May 2025. When fully operating, WIPP has received as many as 51 shipments in a month, from sites across the DOE complex.
The 23 shipments from May include 11 from the Idaho National Lab, and eight from Los Alamos National Laboratory, about 350 miles north of Carlsbad. where WIPP is located. The final four came from the Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant 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.
The temporary shutdown comes just a few months after a planned outage, during which TRU waste receipts and other operations were paused for major repairs.
So far, in fiscal 2026, which started October 1, 2025, WIPP has received 206 shipments, with 92 from the Idaho National Lab, and 91 coming from Los Alamos. By comparison, the facility received 156 shipments from October 2024 through May 2025 last fiscal year.
For the calendar year, WIPP received 103 shipments from January through May 2026, compared to 115 during the same timeframe in 2025.