The Energy Department said Friday that a third worker at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., has tested positive for COVID-19.
The employee of WIPP management and operations contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership “became ill earlier this week and was tested by WIPP Health Services on Wednesday,” the Energy Department announced on its social media feeds for the transuranic waste disposal facility
The test came back positive Friday, DOE said, adding that the employee has been working remotely since mid-March. The infected individual visited the DOE complex for about 15 minutes on June 4, according to the agency.
The Energy Department said its Carlsbad Field Office continues to work with all WIPP contractors to ensure safety protocols recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are being followed.
Earlier confirmed cases of the viral disease were reported among the workforces of two WIPP subcontractors: Constructors Inc. in May and North Wind in April.
Like nearly all other nuclear cleanup sites overseen by the DOE Office of Environmental Management, WIPP reduced its on-site workforce in late March in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Last Thursday the Energy Department acknowledged 37 “confirmed active” cases of COVID-19 within the nuclear cleanup complex, which would make the latest WIPP case No. 38.
On June 15 WIPP entered Phase 2 of the Environmental Management office’s remobilization program, with continued recall of staff involved mostly in high-priority or low-risk chores. It is a four-stage process, which starts with preplanning (Phase 0) and eventually advances to Phase 3, or nearly pre-COVID workforce levels on-site.
During its reduced operations, WIPP accepted no more than five waste shipments weekly – roughly half what it would usually receive on a good week.
Editor’s note: Article revised June 23 to reflect WIPP’s current phase of remobilization.
