A worker with Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos, the cleanup contractor for the EM Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA), surveys EM-LA's 30th transuranic waste shipment of fiscal 2021 in Area G at Technical Area 54.
A worker with Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos, the cleanup contractor for the EM Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA), surveys EM-LA's 30th transuranic waste shipment of fiscal 2021 in Area G at Technical Area 54.

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. – The EM Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and cleanup contractor Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) recently completed their 30th shipment of transuranic (TRU) waste for the fiscal year that began in October last year.

“We are excited with the progress our team has made to move waste out of Los Alamos,” said Ellen Gammon, N3B waste and engineering manager. “Making the thirtieth shipment this fiscal year demonstrates the strong progress we have made toward cleaning up legacy waste at Los Alamos.”

EM-LA increased efficiency in waste shipments after N3B and Triad, contractor to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), began combining TRU waste shipments for disposal at EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). By comingling waste shipments, EM and NNSA can ship legacy and new-generation radioactive waste together, maximizing resources while safely transporting waste for off-site disposal. The EM and NNSA Los Alamos field offices completed their first comingled shipment of TRU waste in January.

A crew with Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos, the cleanup contractor for the EM Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA), prepares EM-LA's 30th transuranic waste shipment of fiscal 2021 in Area G at Technical Area 54.
A crew with Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos, the cleanup contractor for the EM Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA), prepares EM-LA's 30th transuranic waste shipment of fiscal 2021 in Area G at Technical Area 54.

NNSA and Triad operate the Radioassay and Nondestructive Testing (RANT) facility at LANL. The facility provides space for EM crews to load drums, boxes, and 10-drum overpacks containing TRU waste into shipping containers. Workers confirm the containers meet WIPP’s waste acceptance criteria under a program approved by the State of New Mexico and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before they are shipped to the waste repository.

N3B has sent 51 shipments of TRU waste to WIPP since the start of its Los Alamos legacy cleanup contract in 2018, representing over 279 cubic meters of waste prepared and removed offsite.