Official: Funding shortfall hurts WIPP

Nuclear waste storage facility plans to halt deliveries in January to address electrical, infrastructure problems

More than three years after a radiation leak forced the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant to shut down, managers are still dealing with the issues of storing waste and undertaking construction in a partly contaminated mine.

A nearly $300 million new ventilation system isn’t expected to be complete by 2022, the salt-rock ceiling of one room is expected to collapse soon, and the facility is facing problems with fire-suppression systems and other infrastructure.

But at a forum Wednesday evening in Carlsbad, officials expressed enthusiasm about the work underway at WIPP.

At least 118 shipments of transuranic waste — equipment, tools, soil and gloves contaminated by plutonium and other highly radioactive materials — have been taken into the facility, at a rate of three to five shipments per week, since WIPP reopened in January, they said. This is a far slower pace than before the shutdown. The facility has averaged 800 shipments a year, or more than 15 per week, in the 15 years that it has accepted nuclear waste for long-term storage.

The incident that shut down the facility was caused by a drum of transuranic waste that was improperly packaged at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The container burst in the underground storage area, releasing radiation through the ventilation system. Some areas have been permanently closed as a result of the leak.

Mining of a new a underground panel in the saltrock cavern, which will be used to dispose of more transuranic waste drums, will begin next week, officials said — the first expansion at the site since 2014.

“This is a big deal for WIPP,” said Bruce Covert, president of Nuclear Waste Partnership, the contractor that manages the site. “… We are going to walk before we run.”

While the mine work will begin next week, operators said they intend to stop accepting shipments for several weeks in January so they can address electrical issues and other infrastructure problems.

Todd Shrader, manager of the Energy Department’s Carlsbad Field Office, said some improvements at WIPP have been delayed because of limited federal funding, including the replacement of a faulty firesafety system.

“It is corroded, its damaged,” he said of the system, “but it is a multimillion-dollar job.”

Officials have prioritized a long list of infrastructure needs, Shrader said, and are asking Nuclear Waste Partnership to find ways to save money to better fund crucial projects. They also are working with New Mexico’s congressional delegation to secure more federal funding for WIPP, he said.

In July, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, an independent adviser to the U.S. energy secretary, wrote in a monthly report on WIPP that inspectors had found deficiencies in tornado doors, fire-suppression systems that went without water for months and a number of unstable areas in the mine that workers could not access.

“The number of impairments and the time it takes to repair items indicate that the contractor is struggling to maintain facility infrastructure,” the report said.

The safety board also said that one of three fans used to send air through a radiation filter went out of service in June and had not been repaired by the time of a November inspection. The board attributed this to “WIPP’s ineffectiveness in addressing key maintenance issues.”

A continuing resolution for WIPP’s budget expires Friday, but Shrader said he believes a new resolution will be put in place to keep the facility operating.

“Every site out there still has transuranic waste,” he said of the Energy Department complex. “We are key to their success moving forward.”

Contact Rebecca Moss at 505-9863011.