A tour group walks into a geological repository, the US Department of Energy’s pilot waste isolation facility, and dumps transuranic radioactive waste in the desert between Hobbs and Carlsbad on August 17, 2021 (Nathan J Fish / Sun-News)
(Tribune News Service) – New Mexico’s national laboratories and nuclear waste disposal facility – the only one of its kind in the nation – received millions of dollars this year through an annual bill that provides funding for national defense facilities in the United States
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was passed by both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate and sent to President Joe Biden’s desk for signature.
It will provide federal dollars to military facilities and initiatives for fiscal year 2022 while setting spending plans and priorities for the next year.
U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), who sits on the Senate’s Armed Services Committee, said this year’s NDAA would benefit his state by allocating dollars to New Mexico’s programs, boosting its economy, and acting as the state “Leader” in National Security.
“Among many others, these provisions will benefit the New Mexico economy and advance our state’s position as a national security leader for years to come,” said Henrich.
A tour group rides a cart through a geological repository, the U.S. Department of Energy’s pilot waste isolation facility, and dumps Transuranic radioactive waste in the desert between Hobbs and Carlsbad on August 17, 2021 (Nathan J Fish / Sun-News)
A long corridor extends underground at a geological repository, the U.S. Department of Energy’s pilot waste isolation facility, where Transuranic radioactive waste will be stored in the desert between Hobbs and Carlsbad on August 17, 2021 (Nathan J Fish / Sun-News)
A hole drilled to store radioactive waste lies empty in a geological repository, the U.S. Department of Energy’s pilot waste isolation facility, which stores transuranic radioactive waste in the desert between Hobbs and Carlsbad on August 17, 2021 (Nathan J Fish / Sun News)
Workers go to a geological repository, the U.S. Department of Energy’s pilot waste isolation facility, and dump transuranic radioactive waste in the desert between Hobbs and Carlsbad on August 17, 2021 (Nathan J Fish / Sun-News)
Bobby St. John investigates salt at a geological repository, the U.S. Department of Energy’s pilot waste isolation facility that stores transuranic radioactive waste in the desert between Hobbs and Carlsbad on August 17, 2021 (Nathan J Fish / Sun-News)
Waste isolation pilot plant
The waste isolation pilot plant near Carlsbad serves as the only deep geological repository for nuclear waste in the country.
Low-grade transuranic waste (TRU) consisting of clothing materials and equipment irradiated during nuclear activity is being delivered to WIPP from facilities across the country and buried in a salt deposit approximately 2,000 feet underground.
The NDAA approved approximately $ 430 million to operate WIPP, including $ 55 million to build the WIPP ventilation system – part of an approximately $ 300 million remodel known as the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System.
Another $ 25 million in the bill would support ongoing work on a new supply shaft at the facility.
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos serves as the primary facility for U.S. plutonium research and is home to nuclear weapon development and other defense-related projects.
The facility has had difficulty responding to requests from the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) in recent years to address groundwater pollution from the site.
Approximately $ 1 billion was made available to LANL by the NDAA to fund its ongoing plutonium research and the production of plutonium mines used as triggers for nuclear weapons.
The dollars supported staff, equipment, and other laboratory work to meet its production goals for the pits over the next five years – $ 660 million for plutonium operations and $ 350 million for mine production.
Of the $ 338 million included in the NDAA for nationwide environmental remediation, $ 275 million will go to Los Alamos and an additional $ 58 million to the surplus, unused facilities.
Sandia National Laboratory
The Sandia National Laboratory near Albuquerque also does nuclear research and develops technology for the rest of the country.
More: The pilot plant for waste isolation receives 13,000 nuclear waste shipments and is to be increased to 17 per week
It also supports federal nuclear stocks through research and modernization efforts.
The lab is managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration, which received $ 15.9 billion in the bill, including funding for Sandia’s engineering, science, and systems integration programs.
An additional $ 13.8 million was raised to the NDAA for a project to develop power sources in the laboratory.
Radiation exposure
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was slated to expire in 2022 after funding Americans who were affected by previous radioactive and nuclear projects and who suffered health problems from exposure to radiation.
A clause in the NDAA expressed the wish of the congress to expand the RECA beyond the end of next year.
In New Mexico, the first nuclear weapons tests were conducted at the Trinity test site near Alamogordo, and local residents have claimed for years that they have been affected by the radiation released as downwinder, although they are not covered by that funding.
Uranium workers in New Mexico were accepted into the RECA because they were exposed during mining in the northern part of the state, but downwinders in the Tularosa Basin area pleaded for inclusion.
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