Feds ramp up project sending nuke weapons waste from South Carolina to site near Carlsbad
A controversial project to dispose of surplus, weapons-grade plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant nuclear waste facility near Carlsbad is ramping up amid concerns it could mark an expansion of the WIPP mission.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina began diluting the plutonium waste in 2016 through a process known as downblending that lowers the radioactivity of the materials so it can meet disposal requirements at WIPP.
The DOE announced the South Carolina facility completed its 100th downblending for fiscal year 2023, ahead of schedule, and intended to ship the waste to WIPP via truck.
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That marked a steep increase from nine downblends in fiscal year 2017.
This came amid another project that would see surplus plutonium, mostly held at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, being shipped to Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico for processing, then to Savannah River Site for downblending before heading to WIPP for disposal.
That was being conducted by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), in conjunction with Savannah River’s ongoing dilution operations.
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Groups in New Mexico voiced concerns shipping the waste through New Mexico multiple times would imperil communities along the transportation routes, and that disposing of plutonium in this way would mean waste going to WIPP that the repository was not designed for.
DOE officials maintained that by the time the waste reaches WIPP and is buried in a salt deposit 2,000 feet underground, it would meet the same criteria as all other wastes at the facility.
Feds committed to getting nuclear waste out of South Carolina
Maxwell Smith, deputy facility manager of Savannah River Site’s K Area, where the waste is being downblended, said the project would help the federal government meet its commitment to remove nuclear waste from South Carolina.
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"Reaching the 100th plutonium downblend well ahead of schedule is a huge accomplishment and a testament to our team’s commitment to remove plutonium from the state,” Smith said. “Much of our work in the past few years has been to introduce efficiencies and speed up our processing rates, and it’s gratifying to see the results of those efforts.”
The downblending process sees plutonium mixed with an adulterant, diluting the material to meet WIPP’s requirements.
The WIPP facility takes in transuranic (TRU) waste from DOE facilities throughout the country, mostly clothing materials, equipment and debris irradiated during nuclear activities.
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Downblending began in 2016 and was paused in 2019 as equipment was updated and personnel were trained to hasten the work, read a report from the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management.
That involved upgrading gloveboxes, enclosures that allow workers to handle radioactive material while keeping it isolated, adding material entry and removal devices where downblending occurs and building special carts to move downblended material throughout the facility.
The work is now conducted 24 hours a day after the facility moved from two- to four-hour shifts and doubled the number of operators, the report read, hired by DOE-hired contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS).
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“SRNS has safely accomplished a great amount of work in an effort to increase downblending operations,” said Bert Crapse, DOE-Savannah River nuclear materials program manager.
The facility will next begin downblending materials that were scheduled for next fiscal year, Smith said.
Three new gloveboxes are being installed at K Area to help with the plan, along with new ventilation systems to increase production.
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“Downblending supports DOE’s nonproliferation mission, and the K Area team is proud to be part of that mission,” he said.
New Mexicans worry nuclear waste from out of state could imperil locals
New Mexico activists continued to voice concerns, despite federal plans ramping up to dispose of plutonium in New Mexico.
During an Aug. 21 meeting of the New Mexico Legislature’s interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee, Cynthia Weehler with the 285 Alliance argued transporting surplus plutonium, even after downblending, could imperil her community in the Santa Fe area, along the transportation route.
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The group is named for U.S. Highway 285, a main thoroughfare that runs from northern New Mexico to its southeast corner where WIPP is located.
Weehler said all communities at the DOE’s transportation routes for the plutonium projects were in undue danger.
“Thousands of us live near or on this route, and everything we care about is at risk from plans to increase plutonium transport on this highway by the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration,” Weehler said before lawmakers.
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She said plutonium disposal plans would “change the mission” of WIPP beyond what the state and federal government originally agreed on.
She said the project would lead the facility to dispose of new waste streams other than “legacy waste” left over from the Cold War as Weehler contended the repository was intended for originally.
The new permit likely to take effect this year notably removed the 2024 closure date of the facility, leaving it open-ended with officials estimating WIPP could stay open as late as 2080 based on its statutory waste volume limit and the availability of waste.
“That’s because it will take the rest of this century to emplace all this new waste,” Weehler said. “Common sense needs to come in from who those bear all the risks: the public.”
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Feds sending more nuke weapons waste from South Carolina to Carlsbad
