Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
4/04/2014

The first shipment of Los Alamos transuranic waste arrived at the Waste Control Specialists facility in Texas this week for temporary storage during the ongoing shutdown of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The storage will take place under a one-year, $8.8 million contract between WCS and WIPP contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership. WIPP has been shut down since a set of incidents in February, and staging the waste at WCS will allow the Department of Energy to meet a June 30 milestone to have all aboveground-stored transuranic waste removed from Los Alamos. “Our commitment to the State of New Mexico is to remove the waste stored aboveground so it would not pose a risk in the event of another wildfire in Los Alamos,” DOE Los Alamos Environmental Programs Office Manager Pete Maggiore said in a statement. “Staging the waste at WCS is the best option available to ensure the Lab meets its commitment without delay.”

About 3,706 cubic meters of transuranic waste stored aboveground at LANL were targeted for accelerated removal in a framework agreement with New Mexico, a deal brokered after a wildfire in 2011 threatened the material. The majority of the material had been disposed of at WIPP and the campaign was been in its final stages when WIPP shut down indefinitely last month due to two incidents: a salt truck fire and a radiation release. Despite the added cost and challenge, DOE officials have promised to meet the June deadline. So far about 3,200 cubic meters of the 3,706 have been removed, and the remaining waste will be sent to WCS in about 100 shipments between now and the end of June, with shipments are expected to ramp up to about 10 per week. The material is ultimately still expected to be disposed of at WIPP when the facility reopens.             

State Praises the Move

New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn, who pushed for completion of the campaign despite the WIPP shutdown, praised the step. “Since the first day of the 3706 TRU Waste Campaign, the New Mexico Environment Department has insisted that ‘come hell or high water’ all of the above ground TRU waste be removed from LANL by the deadline established by the 2011 Framework Agreement,” he said in a statement. “With the option of interim storage of TRU waste at WCS in Texas, the Department of Energy has helped ensure that the June 30, 2014 deadline is met. We are extremely pleased with DOE’s commitment to making sure the 3706 TRU Waste Campaign is a success.”

The LANL waste will be placed in an indoor covered storage facility at WCS. Members of the LANL-Carlsbad Mobile Loading Team are working in conjunction with WCS to receive the shipments. “We had some mock ups with those containers. They are familiar with the loading and unloading of these containers and they’ve been of great assistance to our guys as we go through the process right now,” WCS spokesman Chuck McDonald said. He added, “We really appreciate all their input. We used to do a lot of storage at the facility before we got our disposal license. It’s not a completely new process for our employees out there.”

Permit Mod Needed if Storage Goes Beyond One Year

While the initial contract is for a year, WCS may need to store it longer depending on when WIPP reopens. “If storage beyond a year is necessary, WCS would have to apply for a permit modification with the Texas Department of Environmental Quality. Once WCS is granted the permit modification, NWP has the option to extend the contract for two additional six month periods,” NWP spokesman Donavan Mager said in a written response.

WCS said it is able to store the waste for however long may be necessary. “Our approach at WCS is, we’ll keep it as long as DOE wants us to keep it, it’s obviously their call. When they feel like they’re ready to move it out they’ll let us know. It’s really hard to plan beyond the contract that’s been put in place now,” McDonald said. “We have the experience to handle this kind of waste. It’s frankly good for morale to get an important project that people are aware of and people are aware you’re making a contribution, that means a lot to our employees.”