The contractor for the WIPP nuclear repository still must resolve issues with underground ventilation to protect workers from bad air, according to a U.S. Department of Energy review.
Nuclear Waste Partnership “does not have a sound engineering approach to determining the minimum ventilation rates that will ensure safe conditions for underground workers,” the DOE’s Office of Enterprise Assessments said in a critical Dec. 29 report.
Air flow in the deep underground repository has been severely restricted since a Feb. 14 radiation leak contaminated WIPP with americium and plutonium, shutting down the facility.
The reduced air flow has limited the amount of work that can be done underground as WIPP tries to recover. Running the diesel equipment used to haul salt from the mine and accomplish other tasks is especially an issue.
“The identified deficiencies are significant and need to be addressed before WIPP begins to use diesel engines underground,” the DOE said in its report. “Although operation of diesel equipment at WIPP under the current conditions will be challenging, it can be accomplished safely underground if appropriate safety controls and restrictions are developed using a sound engineering approach,” DOE said.
Don Hancock, a WIPP watchdog with Albuquerque’s Southwest Research and Information Center, said, “You can’t have people breathing in diesel fumes because that is a health risk. The way you alleviate the risk is to have a higher air flow so it dilutes the fumes and they are not dangerous to the workers.”
At the time of the release, high-efficiency air filters kicked in to clean the underground air of radiological contaminants before expulsing the air into the environment. Those filters are still running.
The fans associated with those filters can move only about 60,000 cubic feet of air per minute – roughly one-seventh of the air flow underground before the radiation release, according to Hancock.
In a statement, the DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office said resolution of the ventilation issues already was being addressed at the time of the assessment.
NWP is “revising ventilation plans” based on the current mine configuration and is also putting in place air monitors that would continuously sample air for diesel particulates, the statement said.
Report: WIPP contractor still has air issues to fix
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