Year
1984
Abstract
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), now under development near Carlsbad, New Mexico, will provide a research and development facility to demonstrate the safe disposal of radioactive waste from national defense programs. WIPP is authorized by Public Law 96-164 and is exempted from licensing by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The primary objectives of WIPP are to demonstrate the technical and operational methods for permanent isolation of defense-generated radioactive waste, and to provide a facility for experiments on the behavior of high-level waste in bedded salt. The facility is designed to receive, inspect, emplace, and store defense waste. It will have the capability of disposing of defense transuranic waste and conducting experiments with defense-generated high-level wastes. The construction of permanent surface and underground facilities started in July 1983 following an extensive exploratory program. This exploratory program included two large diameter shafts and mining over 2 miles of drifts (tunnels) to confirm the subsurface geology. Construction completion is scheduled for December 1986. Waste receiving operations are scheduled to begin by October 1988. WIPP is the Nation's first plant scale facility for geologic disposal of radioactive waste. Given its advanced state of design and construction (Title-II or final design was completed in February 1984), the WIPP project has much to say about a solution to the waste disposal problem. This paper will provide an overview of the evolution and status of WIPP and how WIPP will demonstrate that geologic disposal of radwaste is indeed feasible.