2 WIPP: A Bedded Salt Repository for Defense Radioactive Waste in Southeastern New Mexico W. D. WEART
Downloaded by UNIV OF TEXAS AT DALLAS on July 10, 2016 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: April 6, 1979 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1979-0100.ch002
Sandia Laboratories, Albuquerque, N M 87185
For twenty years the Department o f Energy (DOE) and its predecessor o r g a n i z a t i o n s , the Atomic Energy Commission and the Energy Research and Development A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , have pursued a research e f f o r t i n v e s t i g a t i n g the phenomena accompanying the emplacement o f r a d i o a c t i v e waste i n rock s a l t . This program, which has not revealed any e f f e c t s which would preclude the use of s a l t beds f o r geologic d i s p o s a l of r a d i o a c t i v e wastes, has led to the implementation o f the Waste I s o l a t i o n Pilot Plant (WIPP) p r o j e c t . The WIPP, as p r e s e n t l y conceived (Figure 1) will utilize the deep s a l t beds i n southeast New Mexico to provide geologic i s o l a t i o n for transuranic (TRU) contaminated waste generated by t h i s nation's defense programs. In a d d i t i o n , the WIPP will provide an underground " l a b o r a t o r y " where realistic and l a r g e - s c a l e t e s t s can be conducted using h i g h - l e v e l waste (HLW). While v a r i a t i o n s and a d d i t i o n s to t h i s WIPP mission have been proposed from time to time, (the charter f o r t h i s facility i s p r e s e n t l y under d i s c u s s i o n w i t h i n the DOE) these two c e n t r a l features have remained a fundamental part o f the WIPP. Sandia Laboratories began s i t e e v a l u a t i o n studies i n April, 1975 at a l o c a t i o n p r e v i o u s l y recommended by the United States G e o l o g i c a l Survey (USGS) and Oak Ridge N a t i o n a l Laboratory (ORNL). Subsequent e v a l u a t i o n revealed t h i s s p e c i f i c s i t e to be g e o l o g i c a l l y unacceptable and renewed site s e l e c t i o n i n v e s t i g a t i o n s r e s u l t e d i n the choice o f the "Los Medanos" area which i s now being thoroughly examined. The s i t e s e l e c t i o n phase i s now virtually complete and the area i s b e l i e v e d to be acceptable, i n a l l t e c h n i c a l respects, f o r continued development o f the WIPP. Non-technical aspects o f the s i t e which have been q u a n t i f i e d for c o n s i d e r a t i o n i n the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) are the demographic and socio-economic f a c e t s , the ecologic and archaeologic features of the region and the p o t e n t i a l f o r n a t u r a l resources such as hydrocarbons and potash. 0-8412-0498-5/79/47-100-013$06.00/0 © 1979 A m e r i c a n C h e m i c a l Society
Fried; Radioactive Waste in Geologic Storage ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1979.
Fried; Radioactive Waste in Geologic Storage ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1979.
Artist's concept of WIPP.
The WIPP will be constructed at two different levels.
HLW experiments and high gamma TRU will be placed in the lower horizon. The bulk of the TRU waste will be on the upper level. New waste disposal corridors will be mined as existing rooms are filled.
Figure 1.
Downloaded by UNIV OF TEXAS AT DALLAS on July 10, 2016 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: April 6, 1979 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1979-0100.ch002
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