The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant - An International Center of Excellence for ''Training in and Demonstration of Waste Disposal Technologies''
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site, which is managed and operated by the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (USDOE) Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) and located in the State of New Mexico, presently hosts an underground research laboratory (URL) and the world's first certified and operating deep geological repository for safe disposition of long-lived radioactive materials (LLRMs). Both the URL and the repository are situated approximately 650 meters (m) below the ground surface in a 250-million-year-old, 600-m-thick, undisturbed, bedded salt formation, and they have been in operation since 1982 and 1999, respectively. Founded on long-standing CBFO collaborations with international and national radioactive waste management organizations, since 2001, WIPP serves as the Center of Excellence in Rock Salt for the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) International Network of Centers on ''Training in and Demonstration of Waste Disposal Technologies in Underground Research Facilities'' (the IAEA Network). The primary objective for the IAEA Network is to foster collaborative projects among IAEA Member States that: supplement national efforts and promote public confidence in waste disposal schemes; contribute to the resolution of key technical issues; and encourage the transfer and preservation of knowledge and technologies.
- Research Organization:
- U. S. Department of Energy Carlsbad Field Office, Carlsbad, NM (US); GRAM, Inc., Albuquerque, NM (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 825855
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste Management 2003 Symposium, Tucson, AZ (US), 02/23/2003--02/27/2003; Other Information: PBD: 25 Feb 2003
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: An International Center of Excellence
Objectives and Current Status of the IAEA Network of Centers of Excellence: Training in and Demonstration of Waste Disposal Technologies in Underground Research Laboratories
Related Subjects
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
IAEA
MEMBER STATES
METERS
NEW MEXICO
NUCLEAR ENERGY
PRESERVATION
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RESOLUTION
SALT DEPOSITS
TRAINING
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WIPP