nuclear-news

Dozens of canisters of radioactive waste to be repackaged at USA’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

Officials set to repackage radioactive waste in New Mexico, Huron daily Tribune,  Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press, December 1, 2016 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Isolated in a temperature-controlled storage area at one of the nation’s premiere nuclear weapons laboratories, dozens of containers of radioactive waste similar to one that ruptured in 2014 remain under 24-hour surveillance, awaiting treatment so they can be stabilized and disposed of.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced this week that treatment of the 60 containers is expected to begin next spring following a series of safety assessments and upgrades to the building where the work will be performed…….

The work is one step in a yearslong effort to get the federal government’s multibillion-dollar cleanup program back on track at Los Alamos and other installations around the country where decades of Cold War-era waste — from gloves and tools to clothing and other material —have piled up.

The shipment of that waste to an underground disposal facility in southern New Mexico was put on indefinite hold in February 2014 when a container sent from Los Alamos to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant breached, contaminating a significant portion of the underground storage area……

The incident resulted in an overhaul of policies, costly work to mitigate the contamination, and a multimillion-dollar settlement with the state of New Mexico for numerous permit violations.

The Energy Department had hoped to resume some work at the Waste Isolation Plant by the end of the year. But the agency still needs to submit a readiness report to state regulators for review and an onsite inspection needs to be done.

Even if the site is cleared to begin moving waste into the underground, state officials say shipments will be sent slowly before they are ramped up………All of the work will be done inside an enclosed box in a specially engineered building with filters. Technicians will handle the waste only through gloved ports. http://www.michigansthumb.com/news/article/Feds-prepare-to-repackage-radioactive-waste-in-10646737.php

December 9, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes