Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
WIPP
WIPP, a geological repository for radioactive waste
Country	United States
State	New Mexico
County	Eddy County
Nearest city	Carlsbad
Location	42 km east of Pecos River
- elevation	1,038 m (3,406 ft)
- coordinates	32°22′18″N 103°47′37″W / 32.37167°N 103.79361°W / 32.37167; -103.79361Coordinates: 32°22′18″N 103°47′37″W / 32.37167°N 103.79361°W / 32.37167; -103.79361
Geology	Permian, Salado Formation
Date	March 26, 1999
Management	United States Department of Energy
Easiest access	New Mexico State Road 128
Schematic of WIPP facility
Website: DOE: Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, is the world's third deep geological repository (after closure of Germany's Repository for radioactive waste Morsleben and the Schacht Asse II Salt Mine) licensed to permanently dispose of transuranic radioactive waste for 10,000 years that is left from the research and production of nuclear weapons. The plant is estimated to incur a total cost of $19B.

It is located approximately 26 miles (42 km) east of Carlsbad, New Mexico, in eastern Eddy County, in an area known as the southeastern New Mexico nuclear corridor which also includes the National Enrichment Facility near Eunice, New Mexico, the Waste Control Specialists low-level waste disposal facility just over the border near Andrews, Texas, and the International Isotopes, Inc. facility to be built near Eunice, New Mexico.

In 2010, the USDOE withdrew previous plans to develop Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. WIPP was identified as a candidate for a facility to store waste for nuclear weapons defense related waste. Various mishaps at the plant in 2014 brought focus to the problem of what to do with this growing backlog of waste and whether or not WIPP would be a safe repository. The 2014 incidents involved a waste explosion and airborne release of radiological material that exposed 21 plant workers to internal doses of plutonium, which can lead to cancer of the lungs, liver, and bones.

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is located in the Delaware Basin of New Mexico. This 600 m-deep (2,000 ft) salt basin was formed during the Permian Period approximately 250 million years ago. An ancient sea once covering the area evaporated and left behind a nearly impermeable layer of salt that over time was covered by 300 meters (980 ft) of soil and rock. The Delaware Basin is geologically similar to other basins created by evaporated seas. As drilling in the salt beds began in 1975, geologists discovered that at the edge of the basin, there had been disturbances that had moved interbed layers into a nearly vertical position. In response, the site was moved toward the more stable center of the basin. Some suggested, early in the investigations, that the geological complexity of the basin was problematic, causing the hollowed-out caverns to be unstable.