Chris Schneidmiller
WC Monitor
1/22/2016
The Department of Energy on Thursday said it had officially determined that transuranic waste emplacement operations should begin in December of this year at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.
The date is set in a new integrated performance baseline measurement (PMB) approved by the DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office, which oversees operations at WIPP, according to a press release.
“The new PMB integrates facility recovery activities, baseline operations and capital asset projects into a single plan that places resumption of waste emplacement operations in December 2016,” a DOE spokesperson said by email. “Our goal is to resume operations before the end of 2016 and will continue to look for ways to move the emplacement schedule forward in a safe and compliant manner.”
The department did not release the document or details of the updated plan, including the projected full cost of recovery. The Associated Press quoted unidentified DOE officials as saying specifics might not be made public for a couple weeks, as lawmakers have to be briefed on the document.
WIPP has been closed to shipments of nuclear waste from other DOE sites since a fire and subsequent, unrelated radiation release in the underground storage area in February 2014. The previous PMB, which laid out a route to reopening the site by March of this year at an estimated cost of $242 million, was scrapped when it became clear the department would have to undertake additional repair work and other activities before reopening WIPP for business.
Site contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) prepared a new PMB, which went through an extensive review process by DOE late last year. “The new PMB considers potential risks that could impact the project and adds appropriate contingency to the schedule to help ensure activities can be achieved safely,” the DOE press release says.
Senior DOE officials, including Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, in recent months have repeatedly reaffirmed their intention to reopen WIPP by the end of 2016. During the latest WIPP town hall meeting in Carlsbad on Jan. 7, NWP Recovery Manager and Deputy Project Manager Jim Blankenhorn said the site was preparing in about one month to shift from site recovery to restart operations.
Recovery work included stabilizing the mine, reducing radiological contamination, and carrying out nearly 200 corrective actions recommended by DOE Accident Investigation Board reports following the 2014 incidents. The next step will include an eight-week cold open period to prepare and drill personnel for the resumption of operations, followed several reviews by outside experts of site operations that will likely also necessitate additional fixes. Ultimately, Nuclear Waste Partnership would request DOE authorization to resume waste emplacement.
When waste emplacement resumes, officials have said WIPP would first deal with containers that were in awaiting transfer from the above-ground segment of the site to the underground when the 2014 incidents occurred. A priority ranking of waste to be shipped from other sites such as Hanford in Washington state would be prepared as well.
The next WIPP town hall is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. MST Thursday, April 7, at the Carlsbad City Council Chambers, 101 N. Halagueno St. The meetings are also streamed at http://new.livestream.com/rrv/.
