The Department of Energy Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office and Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos LLC have completed a record number of transuranic waste shipments under the Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup Contract.
Office of Environmental Management
September 15, 2026
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Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos LLC waste operations crews load U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved transportation casks, which are used to safely transport transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant — the only permanent repository for transuranic waste in the United States.
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) has completed a record number of transuranic (TRU) waste shipments under the Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup Contract.
In fiscal year (FY) 2026 to date, EM-LA and Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos LLC (N3B), the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) legacy cleanup contractor, have finished 82 transuranic waste shipments to EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. This marks an 91% increase over 43 shipments in FY 2025.
“N3B is making great strides in the LANL legacy cleanup,” said Brad Smith, N3B president and general manager. “Not only have we completed a record number of transuranic waste shipments for the year, but we are also meeting or exceeding established targets for low-level and mixed low-level waste shipments.”
A transuranic waste shipment departs Los Alamos, New Mexico, for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant — the nation's only deep geologic transuranic waste repository. The waste will be permanently disposed of safely a half mile underground in an ancient salt formation.
FY 2026 shipments to WIPP included approximately 370 cubic meters of transuranic waste, equivalent to about 46 standard dump trucks. This is the largest volume shipped since N3B began its contract in 2018.
Transuranic waste consists of materials contaminated with human made radioactive elements — primarily plutonium — with atomic numbers greater than uranium. Legacy waste refers to radioactive and hazardous materials generated before October 1999.
A major contributor to this year’s progress is the shipment of corrugated metal pipe (CMP) waste formerly buried at Technical Area 54, Area G, at LANL. The CMPs contain cemented radioactive liquid waste generated between 1975 and 1978. In 2024, N3B retrieved and reduced the size of the CMPs, enabling safe packaging and shipment.
Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos LLC waste operations crew members wear personal protective equipment while packaging corrugated metal pipes containing transuranic waste for shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
EM-LA and N3B work with the WIPP Central Characterization Program to characterize and certify the transuranic waste for shipment to WIPP. This partnership is essential to ensure every waste container meets WIPP requirements for disposal.
In addition to transuranic waste, N3B has shipped more than 480 cubic meters of low-level and mixed low-level waste offsite for permanent disposal — enough to fill roughly 50 standard dump trucks.
“We look forward to building upon our success and meeting our obligations as part of the LANL legacy cleanup,” Smith said. “I am proud of our employees and their accomplishments.”
-Contributor: Donavan Mager
Media Contact:
Stephanie Gallagher, 505-257-8563, stephanie.gallagher@em.doe.gov
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