Los Alamos National Lab Celebrates 1,000th Transuranic Waste Shipment
27 June 2012
FREDERICK, Maryland
On Track to Set Record Shipments Four Straight Years
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), which is operated by a team led by Bechtel and the University of California, has made its 1,000th shipment of transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a permanent repository near Carlsbad, NM. This is a major environmental milestone for the communities of New Mexico.
LANL has sent record numbers of shipments to WIPP each of the past three years. Since October 2011, the beginning of fiscal year 2012, LANL has sent 147 shipments to WIPP and is on track to surpass the 171-shipment record set for fiscal year 2011.
“I congratulate the LANL team on achieving this milestone in environmental stewardship,” said Craig Albert, president of Bechtel Systems & Infrastructure, Inc. “Significant accomplishments like this can only happen through reliable operations based on cohesive leadership, a dedicated work team, an effective partnership with the Department of Energy, and a clear mission for the work to be done.”
At an event commemorating this milestone, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez offered her congratulations. “Permanently disposing of the waste stored above ground at the Laboratory is one of the state’s top environmental priorities and this accomplishment marks significant progress,” said Martinez.
Bechtel-affiliated projects account for half of the radioactive waste shipped to WIPP. Many of the lessons from the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Plant in Idaho, which a Bechtel-led team managed and operated from 2005 to 2011, have been employed at LANL for increased production and reliability of performance.
Bechtel is a leader in environmental cleanup and restoration of former nuclear weapon production sites. It has more than three decades of experience successfully carrying out cleanup, remediation, and closure of high-level and transuranic waste facilities across the United States and internationally.