Environmental officials in the state of New Mexico have sought to escalate tighter situations for the federal government to continue with a nuclear waste repository in Carlsbad, as part of the ongoing procedure to renew the site’s operating license.
The New Mexico Department of the Environment (NMED) released a draft on Dec. 20 that will govern operations of the waste isolation pilot plant for the next 10 years.
The assignment release opened a 60-day period from Dec. 20 through Feb. 18, which NMED will resolve for public comment and comment on the proposed wording of the permit.
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A public meeting is expected to be held in the summer of 2023, with the last permit approved until the end of next year.
Comments can be sent on the NMED website, by email to Ricardo Maestas, WIPP Group Personnel Manager in ricardo. maestas@env. nm. gov or by mail to Maestas at the Hazardous Waste Office at NMED 2905 Rodeo Park Drive East Building 1, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
On the WIPP site, the U. S. Department of Energy is a member of the country. The U. S. Department of Homeland Security disposes of transuranium nuclear waste (TRU) by burying it in a salt depot about 2,000 feet underground at the facility about 30 miles east of Carlsbad.
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The site began accepting waste in 1999 and today has received 13,193 shipments of waste from DOE sites across the country, records show.
But to continue operating for at least 10 years, NMED added new situations to the latest 10-year license renewal, requiring the DOE to store all waste streams destined for disposal in WIPP, giving priority to nuclear waste. New Mexico services such as Los Alamos National Laboratory. and maintain WIPP’s existing legal capacity of 6. 2 million cubic feet of waste, regardless of any long-term congressional action to expand that limit.
In an interview with Current-Argus, NMED Chief Cabinet Secretary James Kenney said he hopes that by shifting the DOE’s priority to first dispose of the waste it generates in New Mexico, New Mexicans will gain greater advantages from the repository and the dangers that come with it.
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He criticized previous DOE agreements with states like Idaho and South Carolina, which have resulted in more waste from those states than from New Mexico.
“We need to take some responsibility for all licensees, adding New Mexico’s waste that has obviously been devalued,” Kenney said. “This allows us to extend control of DOE’s operations in New Mexico to give us priority.
“We’re closing the hole and expanding transparency. “
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Kenney said he expects WIPP to remain open in the foreseeable long term as the need for waste disposal in the U. S. continues. U. S.
To continue operating, Kenney said the DOE will need to be able to account for how much waste comes to WIPP and where it comes from, despite recent statements from the branch that the repository may remain open until 2080 depending on the prospective. long-term availability of waste.
He also said the DOE wants to make more efforts to locate a new filing after WIPP reaches its specified capacity, as a provision was added to the draft permit that would revoke the permit if Congress enacts a law to develop that capability.
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“If Congress were to talk about capacity expansion, and we haven’t noticed anything really extensive from the DOE related to the status quo of a new repository, it would create a scenario where states, by adding ours, would fail,” Kenney said.
The proposed license also required quarterly public forums for the public to be informed and comment on WIPP’s operations, while also requiring meetings to modify the license.
“There will be more opportunities for the public to participate,” said Maestas, NMED’s WIPP program manager.
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Other provisions were added to the permit required per month DOE follow-up reports to NMED on oil and fuel operations around WIPP, as it is in the Permian Basin, the maximum active oil box in the U. S. As well as language describing two additional removal panels under construction. .
The added panels would increase WIPP’s capacity under federal law, but would be used to upgrade the area lost due to contamination resulting from accidental radiological emission in 2014.
NMED also added situations to the permit that give the branch the authority to suspend waste shipments to WIPP if there are allegations of risk to public suitability or the environment, or non-compliance with the permit, and added language requiring DOE to provide an investigation of the cause of any incident similar to waste shipments.
“Before the waste from this shipping container is disposed of at the WIPP facility, the effects of the causal investigation will result in no harm to human fitness and surroundings,” reads an NMED fact sheet released with the draft permit.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus. com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.