The U.S. Department of Energy is highly confident that the nation’s sole underground nuclear waste dump will reopen in December, according to a story posted on the website of News9.com.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is located 26 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The site, known as WIPP, is the world’s third deep geological repository licensed to for permanent radioactive waste disposal.
The facility has been closed since February 2014 when a damaged storage drum from Los Alamos National Laboratory leaked waste, exposing 13 WIPP employees to dangerous levels of radioactive particles.
The closure created a growing backlog of waste as governmental agencies and the public considered safety factors associated with reopening the facility.
While the DOE pushed to reopen this past March, a recently released U.S. Government Accountability Office audit suggests that the DOE was only one percent certain of meeting the premature deadline.
A history of lax safety and mishaps led to the closure at WIPP followed by the DOE’s failure to follow best practices for schedule and cost estimates.
Cost overruns have been significant in attempting to get back on track as well. Initially, the DOE estimated it would take $242 million in renovations plus another $77 million to $309 million for installation of a new ventilation system at WIPP. Work interruptions attribute for nearly $65 million in operating cost delays in addition to another $2 million for facility preparations.