EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is not only back, it’s back with an exclamation mark.
Office of Environmental Management
August 3, 2021
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CARLSBAD, N.M. – EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is not only back, it’s back with an exclamation mark.
Shipments to the nation’s only deep underground repository for defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste slowed to five per week during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, half the rate prior to the pandemic.
But this summer, WIPP began to ramp back up, receiving 12 shipments in one week last month. The goal is to average at least 10 shipments per week for the foreseeable future. Within two years, the target is 17 shipments per week, reducing the backlog of waste at generator sites such as the Los Alamos and Idaho national laboratory sites, Oak Ridge, and the Savannah River Site (SRS).
In addition, on July 22, WIPP received shipments from four different generator sites, including the Los Alamos and Idaho national laboratory sites, Oak Ridge, and SRS. This is the first time WIPP has achieved this milestone since 2013.
"As EM sites continue to make substantial progress in their cleanup missions, WIPP looks forward to continuing to safely accept these shipments and properly dispose of the waste," said Mark Bollinger, deputy manager of EM’s Carlsbad Field Office, which oversees WIPP. Bollinger added, however, that the surge in the delta variant remains a concern and adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols is paramount.
Shipments of TRU waste to WIPP started in 1999, and through July 21, it has received 12,942 shipments. Waste emplaced 2,150 feet beneath the surface is at 40% of the 6.2-million-cubic-feet capacity allowed under the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act.
TRU waste consists of tools, rags, protective clothing, sludges, soil, and other materials contaminated with radioactive elements. These manmade elements have atomic numbers greater than uranium on the periodic table of elements, thus “trans-uranic” or beyond uranium.
WIPP has received 179 shipments so far in fiscal 2021, which ends Sept. 30.
The facility received 292 shipments in calendar year 2019 before slipping to 192 shipments in calendar year 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Drivers for WIPP are among the best on the road, meeting stringent qualifications to become part of the operation. They work for CAST Specialty Transportation, the company contracted to transport all TRU waste shipments to WIPP. Their two-person teams drive from generator sites to the WIPP facility, stopping only for safety inspections, food, and fuel.
The trucks are tracked by satellite via the Transportation Tracking and Communication System (TRANSCOM) and have designated safe parking areas on approved routes for use during inclement weather or emergencies. As part of the shipping protocols agreed to by DOE, state and tribal officials are notified by TRANSCOM two hours prior to a WIPP shipment entering their state.
As of June 30, WIPP drivers have safely driven 15,464,471 miles, the equivalent of 32 roundtrips to the moon.
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