The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is the nation’s only repository for the disposal of transuranic waste generated by atomic energy defense activities. WIPP is located 33 miles southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico, in the Chihuahuan Desert, far from major population centers. Waste is disposed of in a set of panels located nearly one-half mile below the surface in a deep geologic salt bed formed 250 million years ago. The facility began operation in 1999. Watch the video below to learn more about the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
WIPP News
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The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management successfully completed the majority of its 2024 priorities, advancing critical cleanup work with the support of state, tribal and local partners.January 17, 2025
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The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant team looked back at a successful year with the release of a 2024 year in review video.January 14, 2025
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The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management recently awarded performance-based fee payments to 14 of its contractors at sites across the DOE complex.December 17, 2024
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The team at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant recently began renovating a critical piece of the underground repository’s infrastructure, mobilizing more than 2,100 feet below the Earth’s surface to overhaul a mammoth steel-framed bin known as the “salt pocket.”November 12, 2024
Mark Bollinger is the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management’s (EM) Manager of the Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO).
Prior to his selection as Manager in May 2023, Bollinger served as the CBFO Acting Manager since January 2023, and Deputy Manager from 2021 until 2023. From 2007 until 2021, Bollinger was the Deputy Manager for DOE Office of Science’s Fermi Site Office.
Click here to view full bio.
High-Level Budget Information
FY22 Enacted (in the millions) | FY23 Request (in the millions) | FY23 Enacted (in the millions) | FY24 Request (in the millions) | FY24 Enacted (in the millions) | FY25 Requested (in the millions) |
| $451 | $463 | $467 | $475 | $475 | $437 |
For more information on the Office of Environmental Management's budget process and performance check out the Budget & Performance page.