More than two decades after receiving its first transuranic (TRU) waste shipment, EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is undergoing major upgrades necessary to continue its mission for decades to come.
Office of Environmental Management
March 15, 2022
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PHOENIX – More than two decades after receiving its first transuranic (TRU) waste shipment, EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is undergoing major upgrades necessary to continue its mission for decades to come, including improvements to aging infrastructure and construction of the new Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS).
Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) Manager Reinhard Knerr outlined current and planned projects for the New Mexico waste repository during the 2022 Waste Management Symposia last week. He was joined on the panel by Sean Dunagan, Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) president and project manager, and Kenneth Princen, assistant manager for the National TRU Program.
Mining crews have completed excavation of more than 120,000 tons of salt to create Panel 8 and are outfitting the panel with the necessary utilities needed for certification by regulators. In the meantime, WIPP waste handlers continue to fill the last available room in Panel 7, which is set to reach capacity in September.
WIPP has received approximately 40% of the TRU waste authorized by the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act and Knerr indicated many more panels will be needed in the future to complete the facility’s disposal mission. Later this year, CBFO will update the supplemental environmental impact statement for WIPP to create additional panels and anticipates releasing the document for public comment at that time.
Knerr outlined CBFO’s priorities for 2022, which include increasing the number of waste shipments received at WIPP, with priority given to Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Idaho National Laboratory Site; and continuing to make progress on the SSCVS, the largest containment fan system in the DOE complex.
To further modernize the facility, WIPP management and operations contractor NWP has installed fiber-optic cable, replaced underground and surface electrical substations and completed other improvements. In 2022, NWP plans to upgrade firewater loops and transition much of the underground fleet from diesel to battery-electric vehicles.
WIPP continues to prepare to resume remote-handled TRU waste shipments in fiscal year 2025, according to Princen. In the meantime, some remote-handled TRU waste will be shipped in new shielded containers once new package designs are approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Knerr said continued support from the local community and elected officials will be critical as WIPP plans for the future.
“Their support has been invaluable to our success,” he said.
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