Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)

Jun 11, 2014

Five Highly Acidic Radioactive Waste Containers Stored in Andrews, Spokesman Says Public is Not in Danger

By Alicia Neaves
NewsWest 9

ANDREWS – NewsWest 9 has new details on five potentially explosive containers of nuclear waste. Turns out, they are all being stored in Andrews County. That waste came from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. They could be tied to a drum that caused a radiation leak at the underground nuclear storage site in Carlsbad. NewsWest 9 talked to Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County about the dangerous situation and how they’re handling it.

The New Mexico Environment Department confirms the Department of Energy is taking a closer look at six waste containers, all of which have very high acid levels along with nitrate salts mixed with organic kitty litter. Those six include the one which leaked radiation at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad. The other five are stored temporarily at Waste Control Specialists in Andrews.

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Town Hall Meetings

• WIPP Town Hall Videos

• Accident Investigation Report – Underground Salt Haul Truck Fire at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, February 5, 2014
  U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management
  March 2014
• Supplement Analysis For A Proposal To Temporarily Store Defense Transuranic Waste Prior To Dlsposal At The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
  U.S. Department of Energy
  March 2014

WIPP News:

• DOE speaks up on recertification Albuquerque Journal 6/18/15
• Company answers U.S. call for solutions, setting off N.M. political spat E&E Daily News 04/30/15
• Sampling detects contamination at WIPP The Associated Press 11/06/14
• $240 million WIPP recovery plan aims at 2016 reopening Associated Press 09/30/2014
• Review, relabeling of LANL waste raises questions about scope of problem Santa Fe Reporter 09/02/2014
• What happened at WIPP? Santa Fe Reporter 07/23/2014
• Radiation Releases Continue from Nuclear Waste Isolation Project Dissident Voice 7/06/14
• Radiation leak leads to layoffs at Los Alamos Associated Press 7/03/14
• LANL report admits errors in packing waste Santa Fe The New Mexican 7/03/14
• WIPP radiation leak leads to layoffs at LANL Santa Fe The New Mexican 7/02/14
• Officials stand by container switch after WIPP leak The New Mexican 06/26/2014
• Five Suspect LANL Waste Containers Sent to Waste Control Specialists Site in Texas NuclearStreet 6/12/14
• Five Highly Acidic Radioactive Waste Containers Stored in Andrews, Spokesman Says Public is Not in Dangera NewsWest 9 6/11/14
• Concerns aplenty on nuclear waste San Antonio Express-News Editorial 05/30/2014
• Texas nuclear site increases monitoring of containers similar to 1 that leaked at federal site Associated Press 05/20/2014
• New Mexico nuclear waste site halts shipments of toxic materials to Texas Reuters 05/10/14
• LANL waste shipments suspended Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety (CCNS) 05/09/14
• DOE: Could Be 3 Years to Fully Reopen NM Nuke Dump Associated Press 05/09/14
• Paper: WIPP workers "not permitted to speak" ENENews 04/22/2014
• Examining the fallout from Texas nuclear waste proposal Austin American-Statesman 04/19/14
• Talk begins of high-level radioactive waste in Andrews AO Online 04/13/14
• Inspectors re-enter New Mexico nuclear waste site after leak Reuters 4/3/14
• Gov. Rick Perry backs storage site for Texas nuclear waste Associated Press 04/02/12
• Los Alamos Waste Arrives in West Texas Texas Tribune 04/01/14
• Loving County Judge Discusses Nuclear Waste Proposal Hudspeth County Herald 03/27/14
• Mexicans concerned, anxious about WIPP radiation release ENENews 03/27/2014
• Waste heads to Texas while WIPP gets in shape World Nuclear News 3/21/14
• Workers prepare return to New Mexico nuke dump Associated Press 03/22/14
• 35 workers training to re-enter underground mine at troubled nuclear-waste dump Associated Press 03/22/14
• LOS ALAMOS TRU TO BE STORED AT WASTE CONTROL SPECIALISTS Los Alamos Study Group 03/21/14
• Nuclear waste from New Mexico lab may go to Texas Associated Press 03/20/14
• LOS ALAMOS NUCLEAR WASTE HEADS TO TEXAS TEMPORARILY AFTER RADIATION LEAKS NextGov 03/20/14
• Los Alamos lab turns to Texas to temporarily store radioactive waste Reuters News 03/20/14
• Fools Rush In Karen Hadden OpEd Fort Worth Weekly 02/26/14
• Alarm after ‘unusually high’ radiation levels at U.S. nuclear site ENENews 02/16/2014
• Nuclear Waste Storage on Texas Lawmakers’ Agenda Texas Tribune 02/12/14
• Hearing on Implementing the Nuclear Waste Policy Act Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy (113th Congress) 09/10/2013