WIPP/SRL in situ testing program

The first series of in situ, high-level waste form leaching tests to be conducted in the United States was started on July 22, 1986. This effort, the WIPP Materials Interface Interactions Tests (MIIT), involves the underground test emplacement of almost 1900 (nonradioactive) waste form, metal container, and geologic samples in the bedded salt at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) facility, near Carlsbad, New Mexico. Samples were supplied from seven countries and are being analyzed by laboratories and universities in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Belgium, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. Post test analyses of samples removed after 0.5 and 1 year of testing are in progress. The MIIT data complement other laboratory and international in situ efforts involving underground field testing of Savannah River Laboratory simulated nuclear waste glasses. The MIIT international program is a joint effort conducted and managed by Sandia National Laboratories and Savannah River Laboratory at the WIPP, and is sponsored by the US Department of Energy