Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Overview

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is a US Department of Energy research and development facility designed to demonstrate the safe, environmentally sound, permanent disposal of transuranic (TRU) nuclear waste that has been generated by US defense programs over the past 40 years. The WIPP facility is situated 26 miles southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The WIPP underground repository is located in the middle of a 3,000-ft-thick bedded salt formation, 2,150 ft below the surface of the Chihuahuan Desert in the Permian Basin. The salt formation is extremely stable and has been in place for 225 million years. The bedded salt formation was selected as the most promising medium for a TRU waste repository. In 1991, the secretary of energy will make a decision on when the WIPP will begin receiving TRU waste shipments to support an initial experimental 5-yr Test Phase. This decision will be made on the basis of operational readiness, environmental documentation, and public acceptance of the WIPP