The entrance to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant nuclear waste repository outside Carlsbad. (Courtesy of WIPP)
SANTA FE, N.M. A sparking drum of nuclear waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory in late February led to a temporary evacuation of a section of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant’s underground repository as officials investigated if any other drums of waste emplaced at WIPP posed a similar threat.
Investigators later found no one was hurt and no radiation was released, according to a March 12 letter from the lab to the New Mexico Environment Department Hazardous Waste Bureau.
The lab reported it happened as workers packed a drum of low-level transuranic waste on Feb. 26 for delivery and disposal at WIPP. TRU waste is equipment, clothing materials and other items radiated during nuclear activities.