A top official with the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management declined Wednesday to specify when a new subcontractor might be selected to finish building a new underground ventilation system for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.
“It is certainly a high-priority for us,” Todd Shrader, DOE’s principal deputy assistant secretary for environmental management, said during the ExchangeMonitor’s virtual RadWaste Summit.
The Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS) is designed to increase underground airflow to more than 500,000 cubic feet per minute (CFM) from the current level of 175,000 cubic feet per minute. Improved airflow is needed to dissolve dangerous gases underground to allow more workers in the underground.
The project is a big deal for WIPP because it is intended to provide ample ventilation for simultaneous waste emplacement, salt mining, and maintenance for the next 30 years, Shrader said. That cannot be done currently.
Before taking the No. 2 job at DOE’s Office of Environmental Management in mid-2019, Shrader headed the Carlsbad Field Office that oversees the underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste.
Nuclear Waste Partnership, the Amentum-led prime that manages WIPP, on Aug. 28 terminated a $135 million subcontract for construction of a new ventilation system issued in 2018 to Critical Applications Alliance (CAA).
The DOE and its prime contractor were disappointed with the slow pace of progress by the joint venture of Houston-based Christensen Building Group and Kilgore Industries, Nuclear Waste Partnership Chief of Staff Kevin Donovan said during a prerecorded session for the conference.
The Energy Department hoped the project would be finished in 2021. Nuclear Waste Partnership now expects the ventilation system to be operational no sooner than November 2023, and it will probably be later once the timeline is re-examined.
A Tuesday article in the Carlsbad Current-Argus quoted a CAA representative as saying a multitude of engineering changes directed by DOE were largely to blame for the schedule delay.
Better underground ventilation is key to the future of WIPP, which started disposing of TRU waste in 1999, Donovan said. He noted that a fire and subsequent underground radiation leak in February 2014 damaged the original ventilation system that was designed for 425,000 cubic feet per minute. After the 2014 accidents, the ventilation level was reduced to less than 90,000 CFM, although supplemental upgrades increased output to the current level of about 175,000 CFM.
But that is not enough to enable WIPP to emplace its goal of 17 shipments per week — compared to a current five per week maximum due to COVID-19 staffing levels — while also mining salt to open up more disposal space and providing ongoing maintenance, Donovan said.
The Energy Department currently envisions using WIPP for another 30 years, Donovan said, provided that New Mexico approves its updated hazardous waste permit. Waste is being emplaced in Panel 7, where the 2014 radiation release occurred. As as result of Panel 7 contamination, workers in that section must currently wear personal protective equipment on the job.
Panel 7 will be filled by the end of 2021 and waste emplacement will commence in Panel 8, which is currently being excavated. Because Panel 8 is not contaminated by radiation, workers will no longer need to wear as much PPE, Donovan said.
WIPP Leaning on Loaner Fire Trucks in Short Term
With two of its own fire trucks out of service, Nuclear Waste Partnership is leasing vehicles from local communities.
One of WIPP’s two fire trucks had problems with braking and shifting into gear, while the second vehicle was leaking fluids, according to a recent staff report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB).
Certain work was temporarily suspended on the surface due to the problems with the trucks, according to the DNFSB. The situation was noted in a regular monthly report dated Aug. 7 on WIPP activity to DNFSB Technical Director Christopher Roscetti.
A state hazardous waste permit requires the transuranic waste disposal site to keep the fire trucks on hand to respond to surface fires on the property, according to the DNFSB report. Nuclear Waste Partnership secured two trucks in the interim, from Eddy County and Ruidoso, N.M., it says.
“Two fire trucks were leased and brought on site the following day and will continue to be leased until the WIPP fire trucks are repaired or replaced,” NWP spokesman Bobby St. John said in a Sept. 4 email. The loaner trucks are leased under a memorandum of agreement with the Eddy County Commission, he added. The email did not specify when the trucks arrived.
One of the WIPP fire trucks is being repaired, while the second is being evaluated to determine if the most cost-effective option is repair or replacement, the spokesman added.
Addressing underground fire threats, the DNFSB reported notes that needed maintenance was being completed on the automatic fire suppression systems on certain equipment. A recent inspection by the Carlsbad Field Office found one vehicle in the salt mine did not have a fire suppression system, while some others were behind on required upkeep. The systems are designed to detect and suppress fires in the incipient stages associated with potential fuel and hydraulic line leaks.
The suppression systems are installed on underground vehicles such as fork lifts, haul trucks, and roof bolters.
Overall, WIPP has received approval for a $30 million upgrade of its complex-wide fire protection system, including new tanks and a new pump house on the surface, which should be complete by 2022, Donovan said.
