Publications Details
The 1996 performance assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is under development by the US Department of Energy (DOE) for the geologic disposal of transuranic (TRU) waste that has been generated at government defense installations in the United States. The WIPP is located in an area of low population density in southeastern New Mexico. Waste disposal will take place in excavated chambers in a bedded salt formation approximately 655 m below the land surface. This presentation describes a performance assessment (PA) carried out at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) to support the Compliance Certification Application (CCA) made by the DOE to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in October, 1996, for the certification of the WIPP for the disposal of TRU waste. Based on the CCA supported by the PA described in this presentation, the EPA has issued a preliminary decision to certify the WIPP for the disposal of TRU waste. At present (April 1998), it appears likely that the WIPP will be in operation by the end of 1998.