MsMilkytheclown1 | WIPP 80% Confident Partial Reopening in December, But Skeptics Doubtful @MsMilkytheclown1 | Uploaded August 2016 | Updated October 2024, 2 hours ago.
U.S. Says It Will Reopen WIPP Underground Nuclear Waste Repository in December, But Skeptics Doubtful. You may discover some haunting things (like I did) listening to this town hall meeting. tinyurl.com/jovjhzj The WIPP Town Hall meeting in Carlsbad New Mexico on Aug. 4, 2016 begins two minutes 2:00 into video after news article intro.
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO
– The U.S. Department of Energy says it is 80 percent confident that the federal government’s only underground nuclear waste repository will partly reopen in December. (However, read more below):
That prediction comes after federal officials once promised the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) would be cleaned up and reopened by this March, the Santa Fe New Mexican has reported.
The New Mexico plant has been closed since February 2014, when an inappropriately packed container of waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory ruptured and contaminated part of the facility.
The closure derailed cleanup at federal sites around the nation and recovery is costing the Energy Department hundreds of millions of dollars.
A Government Accountability Office audit released last week said the agency knew it had only a 1 percent chance of meeting that March 2016 deadline.
In 2015, the agency admitted it couldn’t safely reopen the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, even for limited operations, until at least December 2016 — and at a higher cost. Now auditors say even the revised cost estimate was flawed. The agency “did not follow all best practices for cost and schedule estimates,” federal auditors found, including having an independent analyst review them.
The report says the Energy Department also admitted in May 2015 that the pressure to meet the March 2016 deadline “contributed to poor safety practices in WIPP recovery efforts.”
The result of missteps in the process of reopening the facility, according to auditors, was a nine-month delay and a price tag $64 million higher than the original cleanup estimate. The Energy Department initially estimated it would cost $242 million to restore WIPP for limited waste disposal and an additional $77 million to $309 million to install a new ventilation system critical to providing clean air to workers.
The delays led to an additional $61.4 million in operating costs at WIPP, and the cost to prepare the facility for limited activity went up another $2 million.
Don Hancock, a nuclear waste expert with the nonprofit Southwest Research and Information Center, is skeptical officials will make the December 2016 deadline. He thinks it could take several million dollars more and a few more years to fully reopen WIPP.
“DOE was overly optimistic about scheduling and overly optimistic about costs,” Hancock said. “Unfortunately, DOE continues to not learn from its past. This is not unique to WIPP.” tinyurl.com/jovjhzj
copy of live town hall meeting here on livestream: WIPP Townhall 8/4/16 tinyurl.com/hkes5kb
~~~
Here is my WIPP Playlist: tinyurl.com/hwrs72k
~~~
partial audio by Jonathan Mann called Emperor of Spheres youtu.be/pcs0U72H7YU
~~~
WIPP "recovery" web site: tinyurl.com/kp53o5a
~~~
enenews.com/?s=wipp headlines
Emergency center activated at U.S. nuclear site — “Dead body found at facility”
Gov’t Analysis: Up to 592 Trillion Bq of Plutonium equivalent involved in disaster at US nuclear dump – Over 5,000 times amount in waste drum blamed for WIPP release
Gov’t: Radioactive release “orders of magnitude” worse than predicted at US nuclear dump — 370 Billion Bq of Plutonium equivalent may have escaped from WIPP drum during “thermal runaway” & multiple fires
AP: Ceiling collapses at WIPP nuclear waste dump — Officials: Roof has separated — “Ground control a significant concern for all of us” — 6 other areas at risk due to ‘significant bolt loss’ — Failures are exceeding safety levels (VIDEO)
‘Worst Case Scenario’ has happened at US nuclear site — Robert Redford film predicted 2014 WIPP disaster: Plutonium release due to chemical reaction in burst nuclear drum is ultimate catastrophe
“Patented explosives” reported inside plutonium waste drums at US nuclear facility — TV: So volatile, experts comparing it to ‘bomb’ — Official: I’m appalled we weren’t told about real and present danger — Over 5,000 drums a threat — Invisible reactions may have already occurred (VIDEO)
Radiation levels spike 7,000% at US nuclear site — Coming from Plutonium, Uranium, Americium, or other alpha emitters — AP: Workers shelter in buildings
Reuters: Investigation suggests another drum with plutonium ruptured at US nuclear site — TV: “There are new concerns at WIPP that there could be another radiation leak” (VIDEO)
Plutonium found in city nearly 30 miles from US nuclear site — Newspaper: Explosion ‘melted through’ container causing radioactive release — More Pu-241 went airborne than all other types of plutonium combined, yet not included in test results
U.S. Says It Will Reopen WIPP Underground Nuclear Waste Repository in December, But Skeptics Doubtful. You may discover some haunting things (like I did) listening to this town hall meeting. tinyurl.com/jovjhzj The WIPP Town Hall meeting in Carlsbad New Mexico on Aug. 4, 2016 begins two minutes 2:00 into video after news article intro.
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO
– The U.S. Department of Energy says it is 80 percent confident that the federal government’s only underground nuclear waste repository will partly reopen in December. (However, read more below):
That prediction comes after federal officials once promised the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) would be cleaned up and reopened by this March, the Santa Fe New Mexican has reported.
The New Mexico plant has been closed since February 2014, when an inappropriately packed container of waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory ruptured and contaminated part of the facility.
The closure derailed cleanup at federal sites around the nation and recovery is costing the Energy Department hundreds of millions of dollars.
A Government Accountability Office audit released last week said the agency knew it had only a 1 percent chance of meeting that March 2016 deadline.
In 2015, the agency admitted it couldn’t safely reopen the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, even for limited operations, until at least December 2016 — and at a higher cost. Now auditors say even the revised cost estimate was flawed. The agency “did not follow all best practices for cost and schedule estimates,” federal auditors found, including having an independent analyst review them.
The report says the Energy Department also admitted in May 2015 that the pressure to meet the March 2016 deadline “contributed to poor safety practices in WIPP recovery efforts.”
The result of missteps in the process of reopening the facility, according to auditors, was a nine-month delay and a price tag $64 million higher than the original cleanup estimate. The Energy Department initially estimated it would cost $242 million to restore WIPP for limited waste disposal and an additional $77 million to $309 million to install a new ventilation system critical to providing clean air to workers.
The delays led to an additional $61.4 million in operating costs at WIPP, and the cost to prepare the facility for limited activity went up another $2 million.
Don Hancock, a nuclear waste expert with the nonprofit Southwest Research and Information Center, is skeptical officials will make the December 2016 deadline. He thinks it could take several million dollars more and a few more years to fully reopen WIPP.
“DOE was overly optimistic about scheduling and overly optimistic about costs,” Hancock said. “Unfortunately, DOE continues to not learn from its past. This is not unique to WIPP.” tinyurl.com/jovjhzj
copy of live town hall meeting here on livestream: WIPP Townhall 8/4/16 tinyurl.com/hkes5kb
~~~
Here is my WIPP Playlist: tinyurl.com/hwrs72k
~~~
partial audio by Jonathan Mann called Emperor of Spheres youtu.be/pcs0U72H7YU
~~~
WIPP "recovery" web site: tinyurl.com/kp53o5a
~~~
enenews.com/?s=wipp headlines
Emergency center activated at U.S. nuclear site — “Dead body found at facility”
Gov’t Analysis: Up to 592 Trillion Bq of Plutonium equivalent involved in disaster at US nuclear dump – Over 5,000 times amount in waste drum blamed for WIPP release
Gov’t: Radioactive release “orders of magnitude” worse than predicted at US nuclear dump — 370 Billion Bq of Plutonium equivalent may have escaped from WIPP drum during “thermal runaway” & multiple fires
AP: Ceiling collapses at WIPP nuclear waste dump — Officials: Roof has separated — “Ground control a significant concern for all of us” — 6 other areas at risk due to ‘significant bolt loss’ — Failures are exceeding safety levels (VIDEO)
‘Worst Case Scenario’ has happened at US nuclear site — Robert Redford film predicted 2014 WIPP disaster: Plutonium release due to chemical reaction in burst nuclear drum is ultimate catastrophe
“Patented explosives” reported inside plutonium waste drums at US nuclear facility — TV: So volatile, experts comparing it to ‘bomb’ — Official: I’m appalled we weren’t told about real and present danger — Over 5,000 drums a threat — Invisible reactions may have already occurred (VIDEO)
Radiation levels spike 7,000% at US nuclear site — Coming from Plutonium, Uranium, Americium, or other alpha emitters — AP: Workers shelter in buildings
Reuters: Investigation suggests another drum with plutonium ruptured at US nuclear site — TV: “There are new concerns at WIPP that there could be another radiation leak” (VIDEO)
Plutonium found in city nearly 30 miles from US nuclear site — Newspaper: Explosion ‘melted through’ container causing radioactive release — More Pu-241 went airborne than all other types of plutonium combined, yet not included in test results
