An employee of the technical services vendor for the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico has contracted COVID-19. This marks the facility’s first confirmed infection of novel coronavirus 2019.
The employee of North Wind Portage tested positive Friday after working remotely since March 18, according to a news release from DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office.
The worker began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms while at home and has not come into physical contact with any other WIPP employees for 30 days. The unidentified individual, who left New Mexico March 23, is hospitalized and receiving treatment.
Officials at the 16 nuclear cleanup sites overseen by the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management have confirmed at least 16 cases of COVID-19 to date.
Roughly 1,000 people work at the DOE underground salt mine for disposal of defense-related transuranic waste. Amentum-led Nuclear Waste Partnership is the prime contractor.
Most employees at WIPP have been telecommuting since late March unless their jobs duties require them to be on-site. Energy Department management at WIPP says it is following social distancing and other Centers for Disease Control and Prevention safety guidelines for personnel who must remain on-site.
The shipment rate to WIPP during the pandemic has dipped to perhaps four or five per week. That is roughly half as many as the site typically receives on a good week. Due to reduced personnel, an extended maintenance outage, and bad weather in January, WIPP received 40 shipments during the first quarter of this year, down from 59 in the same period of 2019.
Editor’s note: Article modified April 27 to correct date when employee left the state.