The U.S. Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has improved its emergency planning and preparation, but work remains to correct shortcomings identified in a 2016 report, according to new findings from DOE’s internal watchdog.
The Office of Emergency Management Assessments, within the department’s independent Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA), studied WIPP emergency readiness for a month last fall to see how site prime contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership had resolved the issues identified two years ago.
The DOE office concluded in a Feb. 16 report that Nuclear Waste Partnership had closed most of the findings from the 2016 report “without fully resolving the original issues.” Here’s a brief rundown:
- WIPP has only “partially implemented” procedures for an effective site evacuation plan, including details on controlling contamination as workers are moved to off-site locations removed from the underground disposal site. NWP expects to complete a detailed plan this year.
- Nuclear Waste Partnership didn’t “fully resolve” holes in its “consequence assessments” – which include accurate projections on any radiological plumes and radioactive dose estimates.
- WIPP didn’t go far enough to fill gaps in its emergency training program. This includes requiring mandatory refresher training and ensuring staff members take the training.
- When it comes emergency drills, NWP doesn’t fully tap lessons learned during those exercises and implement corrective actions.
Nuclear Waste Partnership “takes seriously” the findings by the EA review team, the contractor said in a statement emailed on Feb. 23 by spokesman Donavan Mager: “Corrective actions for the EA findings are being implemented by NWP, in coordination with the DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office.” Mager said WIPP will hold its fiscal 2018 annual emergency exercise during the week of Aug. 6.
The February EA report is part of a process to study how the site might handle high-stakes accident scenarios, such as a radiological release triggered by an earthquake or stemming from a waste assembly being dropped in one of the underground mineshafts.
Located on a 16-square-mile property in rural New Mexico about 30 miles southeast of Carlsbad, WIPP is the nation’s only underground repository for disposal of transuranic waste from the DOE complex. It was closed for almost three years following a pair of February 2014 accidents.
The evacuation plan provides an example of areas in which WIPP has developed good general concepts but still must resolve important details, according to the EA report. The evacuation plan involves the use of school buses from Lea and Eddy counties to transport workers off-site. The plan also notes the need for support from local fire departments for decontamination. NWP is drafting a memorandum of understanding with local authorities on evacuation plans, EA said.
But there are still important evacuation issues yet to be resolved, EA said. For example, current planning doesn’t spell out procedures in which “essential personnel remain on site while all others evacuate.” More details are also needed on procedures once employees reach the remote locations. The DOE office noted that NWP recently assigned a “subject matter expert” to the evacuation task.
The Office of Enterprise Assessments conducted its review from Oct. 3 to Nov. 2 to ensure WIPP’s emergency preparation meets DOE standards, and to see if “improvements are made in response to identified needs,” according to the report.
Panel Closures
Meanwhile, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is taking comments between now and April 23 on proposed changes to the WIPP panel closure plan. DOE and NWP applied in November to modify the plan.
The parties seek some tweaks in the current closure plan, which calls for a 12-foot long concrete block explosion isolation wall and a 26-foot long “concrete monolith” to close off waste disposal panels, according to a NMED fact sheet. The modification would allow bulkheads, or partitions, along with run of mine salt, to be used in some panels.
The original plan was to use large walls and concrete structures to close panels. “Testing at the WIPP facility indicates that such massive closures are not necessary, and the areas can be closed with metal bulkheads,” said NWP’s Mager by email. “Erecting bulkheads is inherently simpler and safer than the original concrete and cement block concepts. “
