Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP), the Energy Department’s management contractor for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M., has not yet awarded the construction contract for a new $288 million permanent underground ventilation system, although it should come soon, a spokesman said recently.
The Energy Department and its contractor have been talking about awarding the contract for months and actually held a groundbreaking ceremony in June.
Several smaller contracts for fans and surface air filtration of the underground ventilation system have already been awarded, however, NWP spokesman Donavan Mager said by email Thursday.
Encorus Group of Springville, N.Y., a small business owned by a disabled veteran, is manufacturing the six exhaust fan assemblies for the ventilation system; while the subcontractor for the motors and fans is Clarage Industrial Fans & Services, a branch of Twin City Fan Companies in Pulaski, Tenn. IONEX Research Corp. is making 22 high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) Filter Housings in Lafayette, Colo. Encorus and IONEX are not the general contractors for the salt reduction facility and ventilation filter building.
The giant fans will draw air through the salt reduction building on the surface. The spokesman did not provide the dollar amounts for the various subcontracts awarded so far.
After a February 2014 release of underground radiation, WIPP cut back airflow levels to prevent the spread of contaminants in the transuranic disposal site. Once operational in 2021 the new permanent ventilation system 540,000 cubic feet per minute, or more than three times the current airflow level. It would also be enough underground air to enable simultaneous waste emplacement and salt mining.
