Vol. 51, No. 7 April 9, 1999

By John German

Back to main WIPP story

• "In 1975 we thought WIPP was going to be an exciting and relatively brief interlude for Sandia -- a six-year project at most. It didn't quite work out that way." -- Wendell Weart, as quoted in the May 9, 1997, Lab News

• "The questions we get reflect some people's fear of the word radioactive Š We explain the nature of the nuclear waste and how it will be handled, and assure them that there is no way it can blow up. Their fears dissappear, or at least are put to rest for the moment." -- Wendell Weart, April 1977, on efforts to inform Carlsbad residents of plans to build a transuranic waste repository in the area

• "Turning on the in situ experiments puts us in the real world. We are now looking at a real environment, real geometries, and real time. These experiments Š will confirm judgments based on lab experiments, field tests conducted in potash and salt mines, and computer analyses." -- Wendell Weart in an April 1985 Lab News article

• "WIPP may prove to be one of the most difficult assignments Sandia has ever undertaken. It is scientifically challenging, politically complicated, and confusing to society -- yet vitally important." -- Dan Hartley, 1989, then VP of Energy Programs Div. 6000, (now VP 4000)

• "There is probably no single piece of similar- sized real estate on the planet that has been more closely studied and thoroughly characterized." -- Margaret Chu, November 1996, then WIPP deputy project manager, now Director of Nuclear Waste Management Program Center 6800

• "Scientific analyses indicate that the WIPP repository has the ability to isolate transuranic waste for more than 10,000 years, provided it remains undisturbed by human activity." -- Charles Fairhurst, chairman of the National Research Council's Committee on WIPP, in a historic November 1996 NRC endorsement of WIPP

• "I've always thought that if we persevered and jumped through all the hoops, we'd open." -- Wendell Weart, May 1997

• "[My goal was] always to live up to Sandia's reputation as a credible developer of scientific fact Š We always presented it forthrightly to the communities. That has helped WIPP earn the distinction of being the only proposed repository in the nation that enjoys widespread support from its host communities." -- Wendell Weart, May 1997

• "If we can help solve our nation's nuclear problems and support a national defense system that is helping to keep our kids out of war, I think it's the bargain of a lifetime. Today, 651 people working at WIPP think it's the best job in Carlsbad. And we've got children from this town coming home from college to jobs for the first time in 10 years Š Carlsbad is behind this project." -- Former Carlsbad Mayor Bob Forrest in a 1989 Lab News interview

• "WIPP is not opening any time soon. It will be years from now -- if ever." -- Don Hancock in May 1998. Hancock is director of the nuclear waste safety program for the Southwest Research and Information Center, which has for years mounted a series of legal and regulatory challenges to block or delay WIPP's opening

• "It's a political event. It does very little to solve the problem. The only thing they are proving is how poorly they do this. Why would that inspire confidence in any other part of the country." -- Don Hancock in March 1999 in response to WIPP's opening

• "Some oppose WIPP because they figure it's the soft underbelly of the nuclear issue. If you can prevent WIPP from ever beginning disposal operations, you will prevent nuclear power and you will prevent nuclear weapons." -- Wendell Weart, Albuquerque Journal, March 25, 1999

• "WIPP's opening has shown that this nation has the guts to open a repository. It will make the next one a little easier." -- Wendell Weart, March 1999

• "It was a moment of great elation. Then, after a couple of days, you realize that you've achieved the overriding, single-minded goal that you've worked toward for two-and-a-half decades, and as the elation beings to fade you start to ask 'What do we do for an encore?' " -- Wendell Weart on WIPP's opening, April 1999

Last modified: April 7, 1999

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