NMED Issues Draft Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Permit

New Mexico environment officials mandate more legacy nuclear waste at WIPP

Crews demolish and replace structural steel needed to remove mined salt from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant underground repository in November 2024. (Courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)New Mexico environment officials on Thursday issued new requirements for the federal government’s operation of the nation’s only nuclear waste disposal site as part of longstanding efforts to address legacy waste. State officials, the federal government and co…

NMED Issues Draft Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Permit

NMED News: SANTA FE — The New Mexico Environment Department today proposed revisions to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant hazardous waste operating permit, strengthening enforcement of federal cleanup obligations for legacy waste stored at federal facilities across the country. The proposed permit modifications codify commitments the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) made in its 2023 settlement agreement with New Mexico. …

NMED seeks to modify WIPP permit; mandate more Los Alamos shipments

In the latest sign of friction between the state of New Mexico and the Department of Energy, a state agency Thursday proposed restrictive changes to the hazardous waste permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad. Among other things the draft permit changes announced by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) would set clear deadlines for WIPP to take legacy waste from DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory. The developmen…