About
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (Carlsbad, NM) - WIPP is the world's first underground repository licensed to safely and permanently dispose of transuranic radioactive waste left from the research and production of nuclear weapons. Located 26 miles from Carlsbad, New Mexico, in the Chihuahuan Desert, project facilities include disposal rooms mined 2,150 feet underground in a 2,000-foot thick salt formation that has been stable for more than 200 million years.
Location
Site Address
Carlsbad, NM
United States
Site GeoLocation
32° 22' 17.4756", -103° 47' 45.1104"
Primary Functions & Operations
Primary Function
The mission of the Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) is to protect human health and the environment by operating the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for the safe disposal of Transuranic (TRU) waste and by establishing an effective system for management of TRU waste from generation to disposal.
Ongoing Operations
Since 1999, WIPP has received and disposed of more than 70, 800 cu meters of defense related Transuranic (TRU) waste from locations around the country, including the Idaho Site, Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, the Savannah River Site, the Hanford Site and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
