nuclear-news

Continuing Safety Problems with New Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Shaft.

Recent monthly reports by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board relate disturbing stories about near-miss operational incidents in the fifth shaft, under construction, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).  The underground federal radioactive waste disposal site is located 2,150 feet below ground surface in a salt formation almost 30 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico.  The Board has reported broken cables, misaligned transport platforms for workers to reach the underground, and workers stuck in the new shaft.  https://www.dnfsb.gov/

On November 20th, 2023, the third incident in that month occurred when a basket for transporting materials fell 2,150 feet down the new shaft.  SIMCO, the management and operating contractor at WIPP, issued a formal stop work order to Harrison Western Shaft Sinkers JV, LLC, the subcontractor.  Preliminary findings indicate the subcontractor did not implement formal controls for hoisting and rigging activities and allowed informal operator actions to take their place.  https://www.dnfsb.gov/sites/default/files/document/29506/WIPP%20Monthly%20Ending%20November%202023.pdf and https://www.dnfsb.gov/sites/default/files/document/29776/WIPP%20Monthly%20Ending%20December%202023.pdf  

The Shaft Sinkers hired a safety culture expert to make improvements to the operating practices and procedures.  https://www.dnfsb.gov/sites/default/files/document/30376/WIPP%20Monthly%20Ending%20March%202024.pdf      

more at nuclearactive.org

April 20, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA