WIPP - February 2014 operational events and the compliance re-certification application (CRA) 2014 - 15293

Conference · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2015

OSTI ID:22822808

Kirkes, Ross ^[1]; Patterson, Russell ^[2]

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1. Piru Associates, Inc. 602 Harkness Rd, Carlsbad, NM 88220 (United States)
2. Department of Energy-Carlsbad Field Office, 4021 national Parks Highway, Carlsbad, NM 88220 (United States)

On Wednesday, February 5, 2014, an underground mine fire involving a salt haul truck occurred at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). There were 86 workers in the mine when the fire occurred. All workers were evacuated. Nine days later, on Friday, February 14, 2014, there was an incident in the underground repository at WIPP which resulted in the release of americium and plutonium from one or more transuranic (TRU) waste containers into the environment. The release was detected by an underground continuous air monitor and then directed through high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter banks located in the surface exhaust building. However, a measurable portion bypassed the HEPA filters via leakage through two ventilation system dampers and was discharged directly to the environment from an exhaust duct. No personnel were determined to have received external contamination; however, some individuals that were on site were identified through bioassay to have initially tested positive for low level amounts of internal contamination. Trace amounts of americium and plutonium were detected off-site.While significant to day-to-day operations, these events have no impact to the long-term performance of the repository. Because WIPP's re-certification is based solely on the post-closure performance of the repository (40 CFR 191, Subparts B and C), these recent events do not affect the long-term performance predictions or its technical and scientific basis. In this paper we will further explore the requirements for WIPP's re-certification, and the basis for our contention that the recent WIPP operational events do not impact long-term repository performance or have any implications on salt as a geologic disposal media, and that re-certification efforts should continue uninterrupted. (authors)

• Research Organization: WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
• OSTI ID: 22822808
• Report Number(s): INIS-US--19-WM-15293
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACCIDENTS
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
AMERICIUM
BIOASSAY
CERTIFICATION
CONTAINERS
CONTAMINATION
EVACUATION
EXHAUST SYSTEMS
FILTERS
FIRES
FISSION PRODUCT RELEASE
LEAKS
PERSONNEL
PLUTONIUM
SHUTDOWN
TRACE AMOUNTS
TRUCKS
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
VENTILATION SYSTEMS
WIPP