LOUISVILLE, KY. —A readiness assessment should occur by December for the new ventilation system at the Department of Energy’s disposal site in New Mexico for defense-related transuranic waste, a manager for the prime said here Tuesday.
That review and a DOE safety assessment should clear the way the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to start phasing up operations of the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System early in the 2025 calendar year, Tammy Hobbes said on the sidelines of Exchange Monitor’s annual Radwaste Summit.
Hobbes is vice president and operations manager for the WIPP operations contractor, Bechtel-led Salado Isolation Mining Contractors. Construction was officially complete on the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System on May 24, Hobbes said. “That is a gigantic accomplishment for our site and we will be working over the next six months to get through commissioning and get ready for a readiness assessment.”
“I think we will be fully operational by mid-25,” Hobbes said.
DOE says the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System should provide 540,000 cubic feet per minute of underground airflow to WIPP, more than triple the current rate. It is a much-anticipated project for DOE. The existing ventilation system and parts of the underground workings were damaged by a February 2014 underground radiation leak, stemming from a ruptured drum, which forced WIPP out of service for about three years.