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PR EPA ISSUES SAFETY CERTIFICATION OF DOE PLAN TO DISPOSE OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN NEW MEXICO

Release Date: 05/13/98
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FOR RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 1998
EPA ISSUES SAFETY CERTIFICATION OF
DOE PLAN TO DISPOSE OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN NEW MEXICO


The Environmental Protection Agency today issued a certification that the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, N.M. meets standards to protect public health and the environment from the harmful effects of radiation exposure and contamination. EPA’s decision allows DOE to begin disposing radioactive waste in the WIPP once all other applicable health and safety standards have been met.
The WIPP is the nation’s first deep underground facility for disposal of transuranic waste generated from defense activities. DOE is developing the WIPP in southeastern New Mexico, near Carlsbad, approximately 2,100 feet underground in excavated, natural salt formations. “Transuranic” is radioactive waste, which consists primarily of sludges, tools, rags, glassware, and protective clothing that is contaminated with radioactive elements from weapons production.

Congress authorized the development of the WIPP in 1979 for the safe, permanent disposal of defense-related radioactive waste. The United States houses 20 major and several other minor defense sites that are currently conducting cleanup activities as they dismantle nuclear weapons. Congress created the WIPP to be a significant step toward cleaning up the environment around these federal facilities. DOE and Congress chose Carlsbad as the disposal site. As required by the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act, as amended, EPA has responsibility for determining WIPP’s ability to safely contain the radioactive waste.

Over the past five and a half years, EPA has held numerous public meetings and hearings, and consulted with scientific experts to discuss the safety of the WIPP. Over 800 people have provided comments to EPA during four separate sets of public hearings held in New Mexico. In making this decision EPA considered about 1,400 written and oral public comments received on the proposed rule.

To protect the safety of the people of New Mexico, EPA will conduct frequent audits and on-site inspections of the WIPP. In making its decision, EPA is requiring DOE to take additional steps to further assure public safety and environmental protection. In addition, under existing regulations, DOE must report to EPA any changes in activities or any releases of radioactive material at the WIPP that might violate EPA’s safety requirements.

EPA’s final certification decision is subject to several conditions of compliance:
      •DOE must seal WIPP waste storage panels with a strong concrete barrier that can help reduce potential releases in case of intrusion;
      •Before WIPP receives any shipments of waste from a waste generator site, DOE must demonstrate to EPA that it can accurately assess or confirm the contents of waste containers stored or assembled at the site, and that it can properly implement its quality assurance programs (confirming that waste characterization activities are done properly) at the site; and
      •DOE must submit a revised schedule showing that markers and other measures used to warn future generations about the location and contents of the disposal system will be implemented as soon as possible after closure of the WIPP.

Before the WIPP opens for waste disposal, DOE must notify Congress and wait for 30 days after EPA’s final certification, as specified in the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act. EPA must separately inspect and approve the quality assurance programs for waste generator sites. EPA already inspected and approved the waste characterization and quality assurance for some of the waste at the Los Alamaos National Laboratory as part of its certification decision. Before disposing of mixed (chemical and radioactive) waste at the WIPP, DOE must obtain a permit from the state of New Mexico to accept hazardous (chemical) waste. Until that time, WIPP is certified only to accept radioactive waste.

Other federal and state agencies have key oversight responsibilities at the WIPP:

The Department of Transportation is responsible for working with individual states to establish the surface routes that will be used to transport waste to the WIPP;

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulates the transportation of nuclear waste including the safety of the containers used to transport waste to the WIPP;

The New Mexico Environment Department is responsible for issuing and enforcing waste disposal permits relating to the disposal of transuranic mixed waste;

The New Mexico Radioactive Waste Task Force administers the State’s WIPP Safe Transportation Program; and

The Department of Energy is responsible for the development and day-to-day management of the WIPP facility.



A copy of EPA’s decision on the certification of WIPP will appear in the Federal Register soon and on EPA’s World Wide Web site at: https://www.epa.gov/radiation/wipp. For further information about EPA’s technical analysis and decision, contact Frank Marcinowski at 202-564-9290. The EPA WIPP Information Line is 800-331-WIPP.
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