nuclear-news

New Mexico nuclear waste facility will not fully re-open for years

DOE: Could be 3 years to fully reopen NM nuke dump LAKE WYLIE PILOT, BY SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated PressMay 8, 2014 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The head of the recovery effort at the federal government’s nuclear waste repository in southern New Mexico said Thursday it could be up to three years before full operations resume at the underground facility.

Recovery manager Jim Blankenhorn made the announcement when answering questions from the public during a weekly meeting in Carlsbad. He said the timeline continues to be a moving target, but full operations are expected to resume no earlier than 18 months from now.

Crews continue investigating the cause of a radiation release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad that exposed some workers and halted operations in February……..

Los Alamos is under a tight deadline to get the plutonium-contaminated waste off its northern New Mexico campus before wildfire season peaks. The state of New Mexico pressured the lab to hasten the cleanup after a massive wildfire in 2011 lapped at the edges of lab property.

Lab Director Charlie McMillan said Thursday during a news conference in Albuquerque that the recent developments “are very much a cause for concern.” But he said it was too soon to tell if they will have any effect on the lab’s ability to meet the state’s deadline. http://www.lakewyliepilot.com/2014/05/08/2418188/doe-could-be-3-years-to-fully.html

May 12, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes