The Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico failed to keep watch over suppliers’ capacity to carry out their quality assurance (QA) directives, the DOE Inspector General’s Office said in a new report that highlighted several QA challenges at the site.
The report, dated Sept. 14 and released this week, found that some of the faulty practices predated two February 2014 accidents that closed the underground transuranic waste repository for nearly three years.
“We concluded that these weaknesses were attributable to limited oversight by the Carlsbad Field Office,” the DOE operation that oversees WIPP, according to the report. The Inspector General’s Office said it brought the weaknesses to the field’s office attention.
“While we did not identify a direct connection between the accidents and the weaknesses identified in our report, the delay to the Department’s cleanup mission and increased financial burden to the taxpayer as a result of the accidents from February 2014 highlight the importance of minimizing the risk of future operational delays,” the IG’s Office said.
Such practices also have implications for WIPP’s plan to build a new permanent ventilation system needed to increase airflow in the mine, the audit says.
In particular, WIPP didn’t always do an adequate job in providing “commercial grade dedications” to ensure that safety-related products or services pass muster with American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) requirements for nuclear facilities. In addition, WIPP didn’t always properly vet vendors’ ability to meet specific quality assurance marks “prior to and after contract award.” The IG also identified gaps in WIPP management of important records.
Official at WIPP and the Carlsbad Field Office “concurred with our recommendations” and have started correcting issues highlighted in the audit report, the report says. WIPP submitted a “corrective action plan” in October 2016 to address concerns about commercial grade dedications, according to the audit.
