In draft permit materials rolled out December 8, the state of New Mexico said it could potentially seek closure of the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad a half-century before the feds might like.
The New Mexico Environment Department wants to ensure in-state transuranic waste shipments from DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory are a priority at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), and says it could require closure of the underground salt mine within 10 years absent an “accurate inventory of all remaining wastes” bound for the WIPP, according to a press release.
The DOE Office of Environmental Management has said it envisions running WIPP beyond 2050 and maybe into the 2080s. DOE also expects the facility to play a central role in disposing of transuranic waste resulting from planned plutonium pit production at Los Alamos as well as the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
The state regulator also said it can yank the operating permit from DOE and its prime contractor “should the U.S. Congress change the federal Land Withdrawal Act to allow for increased waste emplacement at WIPP.” New Mexico also calls for annual updates on what DOE is doing to look for other deep geologic waste sites outside the Land of Enchantment.
Those are among the conditions the New Mexico Environment Department will seek to impose in the hazardous waste plan. The actual draft permit hits the street Dec. 20, triggering a 60-day comment period running through Feb. 18.
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