Workers at a commercially-owned waste disposal facility in West Texas and the Department of Energy’s disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste near Carlsbad, N.M., should be mindful of dangerous heat wave warnings issued by the National Weather Service today in their localities.
In Andrews County, Texas where Waste Control Specialists (WCS) is located, the forecast includes an “excessive heat warning” with an expected daytime high temperature of 108 degrees Fahrenheit. Local daytime highs are expected to remain above 100 degrees through Friday.
The forecast for Eddy County, N.M., and Carlsbad, N.M., near DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, is similar: an excessive heat warning with highs today around 109 degrees in Eddy County and 110 degrees in Carlsbad, according to the National Weather Service. Like Andrews County, Texas, the daytime highs in the New Mexico localities should stay above 100 degrees through Friday.
“Life-threatening heat continues across the region,” according to the hazardous weather explanation for the Carlsbad area. While much of the WIPP workforce does their jobs underground, not exposed to the extreme heat, others work on the surface.
