Waste Isolation Pilot Project
| Waste Isolation Pilot Plant | |
| WIPP | |
 WIPP, a geological repository for radioactive waste
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| 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°WCoordinates: 32°22′18″N 103°47′37″W / 32.37167°N 103.79361°W |
| 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
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| 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.
In 1970 the United States Atomic Energy Commission (later merged into the Department of Energy) proposed a site in Lyons, Kansas for the isolation and storage of radioactive waste. Ultimately the Lyons site was deemed unusable due to local and regional opposition, and in particular the discovery of unmapped oil and gas wells located in the area. These wells were believed to potentially compromise the ability of the planned facility to contain nuclear waste. In 1973, as a result of these concerns, and because of positive interest from the southern New Mexico community, the DOE relocated the site of the proposed nuclear waste repository, now called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), to the Delaware Basin salt beds located near Carlsbad, New Mexico.
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