WIPP TIMELINE STILL UNCERTAIN, DOE EXPLORING OPTIONS FOR CONTINUING TRU WORK

When the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant may reopen remains uncertain, but the Department of Energy is “exploring all options” to keep transuranic waste efforts moving ahead, DOE cleanup chief David Huizenga said yesterday at the Waste Management Symposia. Operations at WIPP are on hold after DOE detected a radiation leak Feb. 14. “In addition to working at the mine we are working with each of the generator sites to determine the potential impacts to their respective transuranic waste programs,” Huizenga said. “We are exploring all options and models to continue to make progress on the complex TRU campaign under a real system-wide effort. At the moment, we are continuing to package material at, for instance, Idaho, Los Alamos and other sites as before.”

 

While workers at other sites continue to pack material as before, DOE is considering its options for when packaged waste piles up at generator sites. “Obviously some sites perhaps have storage capability and could leave stuff on site for a while. We are also looking at offsite locations, other DOE locations as well as commercial locations,” Huizenga told reporters on the sidelines of the conference. The cause of the leak and a time frame to reopen the mine will remain uncertain until DOE can send people underground, Huizenga said. Yesterday, Huizenga said DOE is still not sure when workers can reenter the mine. “We are trying to make sure we do this in a methodical, safe manner. Indeed, the fact that the fire happened shortly before this complicated things just a little bit,” he said.