Recovery Plan Schedules WIPP Reopening In 2016

By Mónica Ortiz Uribe
September 30, 2014

The Department of Energy unveiled a plan Tuesday to resume operations at the nation's only permanent nuclear waste repository. The reopening is scheduled for early 2016.

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in southeast New Mexico closed in February after an underground truck fire, followed by a radiation leak from a storage container nine days later. The WIPP facility keeps waste left over from nuclear weapons production including clothing, gloves and tools. It's stored about half a mile underground in naturally occurring salt beds.

The recovery plan involves installing a new ventilation system and adding steel rods to improve the stability of the underground storage rooms. It also includes fixing deficiencies in the facility's safety protocols and better job training for on-site staff.   

Mark Whitney, the DOE's Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management said progress is ongoing.

"Over 50 percent of the underground is clean and stable," he said.

The estimated cost of recovery is $240 million. Meanwhile 3,290 cubic meters of radioactive waste is pending for disposal at four sites around the country.

Whitney said a report detailing the cause of the initial radiation leak will be out by the end of the year.