Decision Opposed by Rep. Pearce
Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
5/23/2014
After the recent discovery in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant underground of a damaged waste drum that was cracked open, New Mexico has ordered the Department of Energy to develop plans to secure hundreds of similar drums at Los Alamos and close open panels at WIPP. Mine entry teams late last week discovered a LANL waste drum with evidence of heat damage in Panel 7 Room 7, where the Feb. 14 radiation release is thought to have originated. A leading theory is that nitrate salts in the drum reacted with an organic absorbent, which caused the drums to be breached and leading to the substantial heat damage evidenced in Panel 7. LANL and Savannah River National Laboratory are currently undertaking tests to confirm the cause of the release, but there is still no definitive answer.
As a result of the discovery, this week the New Mexico Department of the Environment issued two orders: The first requires DOE to submit a plan to secure and treat 57 drums at Los Alamos also containing nitrate salts. While that plan has already been submitted, a second order requires DOE to develop a separate plan by May 30 to for expedited closure of Panel 7 Room 7, which contains 55 similar drums, as well as Panel 6, a full waste panel that hasn’t yet been sealed off and contains 313 nitrate salt drums. It does not specify when the panels would need to be closed. “What my orders really do are memorialize the verbal instructions we’ve given them. It’s important for us to have a documented plan for how they are handling this contingency,” NMED Secretary Ryan Flynn told WC Monitor. “By no means do we feel that there is some new threat, we are just looking at the situation from what is the most cautious conservative approach we can take knowing there is a potential threat that’s been identified.”
The orders in part were aimed at focusing the WIPP effort on recovery of the site, Flynn said. “I think the orders serve their purpose of making sure we have the plan documented. On the other hand, I am hoping that the orders can crack through this finger pointing stage where there seems to be some motivation by some of the players involved in this situation to assign blame and point the finger, which is totally not productive at this point,” Flynn said. “We are going to figure out exactly what went wrong and where those problems originated and how they weren’t caught. You can’t change the facts. So rather than try to assign blame and point the finger, everybody needs to start focusing on what’s really important, and what’s important is identifying what happened, how this happened. If it was the kitty litter that caused this, how was this change not flagged during the quality assurance process?”
Rep. Pearce: ‘The State Has Gotten Way Ahead of Itself’
But Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) took issue with the panel closure order earlier this week, stating that it “shot out of the blue” without enough communication with other WIPP stakeholders. “Obviously we need to do everything to create a safe resolution. But as far as the closing Panel Six and Seven, people in DOE are not sure if it is technically or legally possible. In other words, they are not sure it makes sense,” Pearce told WC Monitor. “To me, it feels like the state has gotten way ahead of itself.” Pearce explained: “I don’t think we are to the point of making exact decisions to close panels. I’m waiting for the specialists. My background is not in radiological remediation. That’s the reason we brought these guys in. I think we should trust these specialists.”
Pearce says some officials believe that the NMED order may be a signal the state is not supporting the timely reopening of WIPP. “We’ve had questions from appropriators, we’ve had questions from staff here on whether the intent is to keep the thing open,” he said. “So this gets very tricky between, state, nation, national security, the health of the nation and then getting rid of the nation’s waste. So I think there are discussions that should be going on obviously, but I’m not sure if this was the right way to approach it.”
Flynn: N.M. ‘Absolutely’ Supports WIPP Reopening
However, Flynn says that the content of the orders were discussed with DOE, lawmakers and the Carlsbad community before they were issued. “[Pearce’s] comments seem to me that he’s under the impression that we are actually closing the WIPP. Which makes no sense. That message was communicated to Representative Pearce’s office on the day that we issued the order,” Flynn said, adding: “More importantly, Carlsbad, the community and I have been talking about this issue for a number of weeks.”
Flynn emphasized that he “absolutely” supports the timely reopening of WIPP. “I would like to see them reopen as soon as they demonstrate that they are able to safely resume operations. This incident does not change our position on the facility itself. We are still committed to WIPP and we are committed to getting this right,” Flynn said “Truly, the administrative order that I issued will actually help expedite the reopening of the WIPP because it forces them to really figure out what their plan is for how they are going to identify the root cause, how they are going to do that quickly, how they are going to close Panel 6 and how they are going to deal with Room 7 Panel 7, how they are going to close that. I think the order cuts through some of the finger pointing and posturing and will spur the Department of Energy to move forward.”
Carlsbad Official: ‘We’ve Asked Them to Close Those Panels’
Some Carlsbad officials have repeatedly spoken in favor of closure of open panels at WIPP since the February events. “We’ve asked them to close those panels. There is no point at having additional risk,” Carlsbad Nuclear Task Force Chair John Heaton told WC Monitor this week. “It makes absolutely no sense when you can mitigate the risk rather cheaply. As you recover the mine, it seems to me that workers could be put to use mitigating that risk and closing the panels.”
Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) said in a statement he “believes a full investigation of the cause of the accident is very important, and his understanding from NMED is that they plan to close room 7 of panel 7, subject to the accident investigation. Sen. Udall supports the State of New Mexico’s authority to regulate WIPP for the health and safety of workers and the community. He supports the state, DOE, and the contractor, in consultation with national lab experts, taking the action that does the most to protect the public. Given recent findings about the possible cause of the radioactive release, he understands why NMED is taking this action.”
LANL Submits Plan for Securing Waste
When asked about WIPP’s response to the NMED order, a DOE spokesperson said in a statement: “The Department is committed to protecting the health and safety of our workers at WIPP, the public and the environment as we work to understand the cause of the February 14 radiation incident. We are reviewing the order and are committed to working with our regulators as we continue monitoring conditions in both Panels 6 and 7 to ensure the drums do not pose any immediate risk to our workers, the public or the environment.”
Meanwhile, Los Alamos this week submitted a plan to the state to secure the suspect waste drums shortly after NMED issued the order, according to LANL spokesman Matt Nerzig. “The lab initiated several safety precautions and investigative measures upon discovering waste packaged at the site may have been associated with the radiation release. The 55-gallon waste drums of remediated (with absorbent) waste have been packed into standard waste boxes to provide additional protection,” Nerzig said. “The area where the drums are located is also equipped with ventilation controls and fire suppression systems. Technical experts from Los Alamos are also among those from five national laboratories that are examining information collected following the release and conducting scientific experiments to better understand the February 14 radiological event.”
‘Very Frustrating’ That Cause Hasn’t Been ID’d
More than three months after the radiation release, Flynn said the state believes the Department should be further along in pinpointing the cause of the release. “I believe they have the expertise and the resources to figure out what happened there and it’s very frustrating that we are now over three months out since the release occurred and we still haven’t identified what the root cause of this event was,” he said. He added: “They have certain challenges right now because of the limited ventilation that certainly make it more challenging to work in that environment. But the Department of Energy, they have experience working in contaminated environments, they have hazardous response teams, they drill and do exercises for situations where there has been contamination and they need to rapidly respond to that sort of event.”
