Nuclear waste repository near Carlsbad staying open longer than estimated, officials say

Officials at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant nuclear waste repository near Carlsbad reinforced their assertions that the facility’s previously estimated closure in 2024 was irrelevant and that WIPP would operate until its volume limit was met.

The comments came during a public forum held Tuesday virtually and in Albuquerque, where the U.S. Department of Energy and its primary operations contractor for the WIPP site Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO) gave an update on operations and responded to public feedback.

Several attendees called on the DOE to close WIPP in 2024, based on past estimates that next year would mark the end of waste disposal at the facility about 30 miles east of Carlsbad, arguing New Mexico faced too much risk from radioactive activities.

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But DOE Carlsbad Field Office Manager Mark Bollinger countered that the previous timeframe estimate was just that, and WIPP was focused on disposing of 6.2 million cubic feet of waste as specified by the federal Land Withdrawal Act (LWA).

The closure date was also removed from WIPP’s operating permit with the New Mexico Environment Department in a proposed renewal expected to take effect this fall, and Bollinger said the facility would need more time to meet the volume mandate safely.

“The commitment in the LWA was a volume commitment,” he said during the forum. “We stand by that commitment. Any dates out there are either projections or wishes. At the speed of safety, it is going to take us a while to fill the mine.”

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Eileen O’Shaughnessy, founder of Albuquerque-based environmental group Demand Nuclear Abolition said WIPP and other nuclear projects in the state impacted communities negatively and that continuing to operate WIPP marked an expansion of those effects.

Also included in the permit was language for WIPP to mine two more panels to dispose of waste, intended to replace space lost in 2014 incident that contaminated parts of the underground.

Critics argued this marked an expansion of WIPP, and thus its mission.

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“Our group is opposed to nuclear expansion of any kind. These are forms of nuclear colonialism that disproportionately affect indigenous communities and communities of color,” O’Shaughnessy said. “The long term and accumulative impacts of expansion of WIPP have not been fully evaluated. We call on the DOE to close WIPP in 2024.”

Regardless of when WIPP is full, Don Hancock at the Southwest Research and Information Center said the DOE must begin the process of finding a new repository, likely outside of New Mexico.

Language was added in the new permit after negotiations to require the DOE file an annual report with the State of New Mexico, describing its progress toward a new repository.

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Recent estimates placed WIPP end date potentially as late as 2080, based the availability of waste and the facility’s capacity.

“DOE has failed in its authority and its process on work siting another repository. We hope we don’t have to force you to do a good job,” Hancock said to DOE officials at the meeting.

“That becomes important because there is no government policy in US to stop creating nuclear weapons waste. The capacity at WIPP is clearly going to be exceeded.”

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SIMCO President Ken Harrawood said WIPP was targeting about 15 shipments per week, and hoping to ramp up in the near future to 17 weekly shipments.

He said emplacement began in Panel 8 in November 2022, and that the workers began disposing of waste in the second of seven panels last week.

Panel 8 was the final panel under the new permit for waste disposal, and once it is full WIPP will hope to have the replacement panels ready to hold waste.

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Working in WIPP’s favor, Harrawood said, is that less protective equipment is needed in Panel 8 after Panel 7 was closed.

That panel was contaminated in the 2014 incident, which also ceased WIPP operations for three years.

Assuming no major interruptions, panels are typically filled in about three years.

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“The fact that we no longer have to wear the protective clothing allows us to do the work much more efficiently. That was a big step for us,” Harrawood said.

Another project to aid mining and waste emplacement was an ongoing rebuild of WIPP’s ventilation system, Harrawood said.

A series of air filters and buildings known as the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS) was expected in service by 2026, and Harrawood said its New Filter Building was 80 percent complete and the Salt Reduction Building was 90 percent complete.

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Overall, he estimated the more than $400 million project was at 83 percent completion.

To draw air into the mine, WIPP is also building a fifth utility shaft on the west end of the mine.

That $100 million project recently reached its final depth and workers are now connecting it to the rest of the underground, Harrawood said, expecting it to be complete by the end of 2023.

When finished, the two projects will increase airflow into the underground from about 170,00 cubic feet per minute (cfm) to 540,000 cfm.

That will allow waste emplacement, mining and maintenance to occur at the same time.

“It’s going to give us a lot more airflow and allow us to a lot of work that would be more safer with more air,” Harrawood said. “That will be a big improvement for the site.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Nuclear waste site near Carlsbad staying open longer than predicted