An Albuquerque advocacy organization is asking the New Mexico Court of Appeals to block last week’s temporary state approval for the U.S. Department of Energy to sink a new underground shaft at the Waste isolation Pilot Plant.
The Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC) filed its motion for a stay with the court on April 24. That same day, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) granted DOE and WIPP management contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership a temporary modification to their existing state hazardous waste permit that allows construction of the shaft to go ahead.
The temporary authorization by NMED Cabinet Secretary James Kenney is good for 180 days, and says if the permanent permit change requested last August is ultimately rejected then DOE must “reverse all construction activities associated with this request.”
In August 2019, WIPP management announced a $75 million award for a subcontractor, Harrison Western-Shaft Sinkers Joint Venture, to build a new underground utility shaft that would serve a number of purposes, including providing a new access point for people and equipment into the salt mine.
The Southwest Research and Information Center is seeking a temporary stay of the state authorization. In a 27-page brief, SRIC argued that construction of the shaft will lead to violation of WIPP’s legal size and timeline for operations, as established in federal law and a 1981 agreement with the state.
The legal agreements with the state stipulated a 25-year waste emplacement period for WIPP, which started receiving waste in 1999. So waste emplacement should end around 2024, SRIC said.
The Energy Department has filed a 10-year plan for WIPP with the state that would formally lift the current date for cessation of operations.
It makes no sense to launch such a large capital project to be used for such a short time, the advocacy group said. The Southwest Research and Information Center also questioned the wisdom of DOE sinking a 2,100-foot-deep shaft along with accompanying “drifts,” or horizontal passageways, only to potentially undo the work if the final permit modification is denied.
In addition, SRIC argued the Energy Department is attempting to exceed its maximum legal limit of 176,000 cubic meters of defense-related transuranic waste in part through a 2018 modification, also under court challenge, in the manner waste volume is calculated.
A DOE spokesperson said the agency’s Carlsbad Field Office, which oversees WIPP, and Nuclear Waste Partnership have no comment on the appeal.
Management of WIPP will continue working with NMED, the spokesperson said, adding the utility shaft, together with the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System project, will “restore full ventilation to the underground.”
The disposal facility is building the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System project which, once completed, will allow concurrent salt mining, maintenance, and waste emplacement underground. The new system is designed to increase underground airflow to about 540,000 cubic feet per minute, more than three times the current level.
