The Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) recorded 13 shipments in March, following an annual maintenance outage that kept it offline since January. The 13 shipments are the first since the facility accepted 29 shipments in December, and a scaledown from March 2024 when WIPP received 23 shipments, according to the site’s receipt database.
The first two shipments this year came from Idaho National Lab on March 19, followed by six more from Idaho in following days. Los Alamos National Lab sent three shipments in March, and Oak Ridge National Lab and the Savannah River Site each sent a single shipment.
The 16-square-mile Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, located in Carlsbad, N.M., is the nation’s only repository for defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste, material contaminated with radioactive elements during nuclear missions. It typically includes protective clothing, tools, rags, equipment, and miscellaneous items contaminated with small amounts of plutonium.
So far, in fiscal 2025, which started October 1, 2024, WIPP has received 107 shipments, with 78 of the shipments coming from the Idaho lab. By comparison, the facility received 187 shipments from October 2023 through March 2024 last fiscal year.
This year’s annual WIPP outage included the installation of final duct work for the new Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System, which is designed to triple underground airflow. Additionally, the outage was used to rebuild a salt pocket, a massive steel bin where salt, dug from the mine to make room for waste disposal, is placed prior to being lifted above ground.
