Green light for N. Mexico dump
Nuclear waste site may resume expansion work
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Workers are expected to begin mining operations at the U.S. nuclear waste dump in New Mexico for the first time in three years following a radiation release that contaminated part of the underground repository, the Energy Department said Tuesday.
The work to carve out more disposal space from the ancient salt formation where the repository is located will begin this fall and should be completed by 2020, the department said.
Workers will remove more than 112,000 tons of salt, making way for seven disposal rooms. Each will have space for more than 10,000 drums containing up to 55 gallons of waste.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant began accepting shipments of radioactive waste from defense sites and national laboratories this year after being closed for nearly three years.
It’s working to catch up with the nation’s multibillion-dollar program for cleaning up tons of waste left behind by decades of bomb-making and nuclear research.
The pace of shipments is increasing slowly, but federal auditors recently raised concerns that the repository could run out of space. The U.S. Government Accountability Office also found that the Energy Department has no plans for securing regulatory approvals and expanding the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant before it reaches capacity in less than a decade.
Mining for the new disposal area began in 2013 but was halted after the radiation release in February 2014.
A chemical reaction inside a barrel of waste that was inappropriately packed at Los Alamos National Laboratory before being shipped to the southern New Mexico repository was blamed for the radiation release.
Twenty-two workers at the repository were exposed, and monitors at the surface recorded low levels of radiological contamination. Officials maintained that nearby communities were not at risk.
The incident resulted in a $74 million settlement with the state of
New Mexico for numerous permit violations at both the lab and the repository.
As the mining work resumes, officials said crews will install rock bolts to provide stability inside the new disposal vault.