Nuclear repository site near Carlsbad on track for most waste shipments since 2014 incident
This year could see the most nuclear waste brought to the federal repository near Carlsbad since an accidental radiological release in 2014 contaminated portions of the facility and led to its closure for three years.
The incident was caused by a mispackaged drum of waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory, which ruptured in the underground disposal area of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, releasing radioactive materials into the facility.
That meant WIPP was closed to waste shipments for three years as workers cleaned up the contamination and established stronger safety protocols, reopening in 2017.
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Since then, shipments of TRU waste were brought to WIPP for disposal from U.S. Department of Energy facilities and cleanup sites throughout the U.S., buried 2,000 feet underground at WIPP in an underground salt deposit.
After the DOE hired a new contractor Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO) to run daily operations at the facility, President Ken Harrawood set a goal of 400 shipments by the end of the year.
That would be the most annual shipments since the 2014 incident, with WIPP already taking in 146 shipments through May 15, records show.
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That total meant there were roughly 35 shipments per month in the first four months of 2023, meaning that pace could equate to up to 420 shipments in 2023.
In 2017, the year WIPP reopened, there were 133 shipments to the site, records show, and 311 the year after in 2018, according to data provided by the DOE.
In 2019, WIPP received 292 shipments of nuclear waste, and 192 during 2020 – a year known for the start of the COVID-19 health crisis that impacted staff and interrupted work at the WIPP site.
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The pandemic continued in 2021 and WIPP was held to 210 shipments, records show.
As the U.S. recovered from COVID-19, shipments increased to 272 last year.
SIMCO spokesman George Rangel said the site was working to meet the 400-shipment goal, while ensuring waste was sent from LANL as soon as it was ready.
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This was in response to pressure from the State of New Mexico that WIPP prioritize waste from within the state.
“Our workforce continues to focus on all facets of safety and quality in characterizing, receiving, and emplacing waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant,” Rangel said in a statement. “We understand and are fully supportive of the DOE’s goal to safely achieve 400 transuranic waste shipments at WIPP this year while ensuring there is no backlog of shipments from Los Alamos.
“SIMCO is working collaboratively with the DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office, the generator sites, and our communities, to achieve the goal.”
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Jack Volpato, chair of the Carlsbad Mayor’s Nuclear Task Force said the goal was achievable but would require additional personnel and air in the underground.
That could be achieved by the completion of a new air intake shaft at the site, expected this year, to improve airflow for underground workers.
WIPP is also undertaking an about $400 million rebuild of its ventilation system known as the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS) that when completed and in service in the coming years will increase available air from about 170,000 cubic feet per minute (cfm) to 540,000 cfm.
“I think it’s something to work toward,” Volpato said of the shipment goal. “We’re going to have to make a lot of changes to personnel. We’re going to need a lot more air down there to meet that goal.”
Also working in WIPP’s favor was the closure of the disposal panel where the drum rupture occurred in 2014, meaning workers are now operating without concerns of radiological contamination.
That allows work to continue quicker, without the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) needed in the wake of 2014.
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“One of the biggest things is to work in a non-contaminated environment,” Volpato said. “That’s a big plus. I know the new contractor wants to increase shipping rates. That’s fine. We support whatever they want to do as long as they do it safely.”
Don Hancock, nuclear waste program director at government watchdog group the Southwest Research and Information Center said the DOE and its contractors have a history of lofty annual shipment he said are often not met.
“In recent years, they’ve always overestimated how many shipments they will receive,” Hancock said. “The question is to what extent can the site handle it? What extent can the generator sites handle it?”
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To get that much waste underground, Hancock said WIPP would mostly need to take in shipments from Idaho National Laboratory – historically the biggest shipper to WIPP under a settlement agreement between the State of Idaho and the DOE.
Idaho was the source of a little more than half of WIPP’s shipments since the repository opened in 1999, sending 6,880 of the 13,460 overall during WIPP’s lifetime, records show as of May 13.
But continue to get mostly Idaho waste would contradict the desires of the New Mexico Environment Department, which during its recently proposed permit renewal dictating the next 10 years of WIPP’s operations added a clause that LANL waste at WIPP exceed all other generator sites.
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In its public comments responding to the proposal, the DOE sought to strike that clause, arguing it would result in shipment delays from multiple generator sites, disrupting WIPP’s disposal operations.
Hancock said his organization and other New Mexico groups planned to defend the proposal during the ongoing permit renewal process and subsequent public hearings.
“DOE and SIMCO have rejected that,” Hancock said. “This is a problem and is an issue. They have clearly stated a very strong no to that. They’re not going to prioritize LANL. They’re going to regret that. The renewal process will be more contentious than it needs to be. I hope they change their attitude.”
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Carlsbad-area nuclear site on track for most waste since 2014 incident
