The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, also known as WIPP, is a transuranic (TRU) waste repository operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The repository is emplacing defense-related TRU wastes in the Salado Formation, a bedded salt formation approximately 655 m (2150 ft.) below the surface of the Earth. Located near Carlsbad, New Mexico, an area with less than 30,000 people, the WIPP facility is the world's first underground repository licensed to accept TRU waste. Many factors contribute to the success of this project; an important one being the local acceptance engendered by an independent environmental monitoring program in the vicinity of the WIPP.For the first time in its almost fifteen years of operation, there was an airborne radiation release from the WIPP. An independent study released by CEMRC confirmed detection of trace amounts of 241Am and 239+240Pu in the air samples collected about half a mile from the WIPP site. The likely causes of the accident is currently unknown, but it is believed that it may involve the collapse of a section of roof in the active waste emplacement area, damaging one or more drums containing a type of waste readily dispersed into the ventilation air.   This paper presents the data and makes an evaluation of the data in the wake of this incident.   At this point in time the concentrations of radionuclides in air and other samples  have been very small and well below any level of public-health or environmental concern. Results to this time have been both low and localized.   CEMRC's independence and its extensive monitoring program and constant public engagement provide confidence to the local public.  CEMRC's independent monitoring program is a potential model for nuclear facilities, and especially nuclear waste repositories, elsewhere in the world.

Radiation release at the nation's only operating deep geological repository: An independent monitoring perspective

248th National Meeting (2014)

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