WIPP Transportation Safety Program History
Map of Major DOE Facilities and WIPP Routes
(put cursor on state for contact information and links to highway conditions)
From the beginning, the purpose of the the WIPP Transportation Technical Advisory Group has been to work together toward resolving concerns among the states and disputes with DOE over the development and implementation of the transportation safety program for shipments to WIPP. A strong partnership among the states and with DOE emerged and, in the late 1990s, culminated in the development of stringent standards, principles, and procedures that states and DOE both agreed to follow during the entire campaign to ship transuranic waste by truck to WIPP. These standards, principles, and procedures are embodied in the Program Implementation Guide, which covers every aspect of the transportation safety program, including: enhanced CVSA inspections of shipments; qualifications of drivers; selections of routes; advance notice of shipments and training.
In March 1999, WIPP began accepting radioactive transuranic waste from DOE facilities around the country. The waste is buried 2,150 feet below the surface and represents decades’ worth of discarded items, such as gloves, glassware, tools, and rags, as well as sludges and resins that either had been contaminated with plutonium during weapons production and research or generated through cleanup. During WIPP’s 30-year operational life, shipments are scheduled to traverse 30 states and lands of 11 tribal nations. Over 90 percent of the existing inventory of transuranic waste is located in Western states.
For each scheduled shipment to WIPP, Western states along the route follow the standards contained in the Program Implementation Guide to ensure safe delivery and burial of the waste. Quality control reviews conducted every other year on the program’s effectiveness have concluded that the Guide has been fully implemented. More important, all the waste shipped has been safely buried. This enviable safety record for shipments to WIPP provides additional proof that the stringent program standards contained in the Guide are being adhered to.
The transportation safety program is now considered a model program that has gained public confidence and acceptance for the transport of transuranic waste to WIPP. It also has been used to guide the development and implementation of other shipping campaigns such as spent fuel and cesium.