With two of its own fire trucks out of service, the management contractor for the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico is leasing vehicles from local communities.
One of WIPP’s two fire trucks had problems with braking and shifting into gear and a 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 near the city of Carlsbad to keep the fire trucks on hand to respond to surface fires on the property, according to the DNFSB report. Prime contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) 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 spokesperson Bobby St. John said in a Friday email. The loaner trucks are leased under a memorandum of agreement with the Eddy County Commission, he added. The email did not specify what date 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 DOE’s 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.
