Nuclear wasteNew theory to explain WIPP radiation leaks
The New Mexico Environment Department(NMED) has published internal Los Alamos National Laboratory(LANL) e-mails showing that the lab approved potentially inappropriate chemicals to be used in nuclear waste drums, resulting in radiation leaks which led to the shutdown of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant(WIPP), the U.S. only underground nuclear waste repository in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Experts say the organic chemicals used are widely known to cause heat reaction when mixed with the drum’s other contents.
The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) has published internal Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) e-mails showing that the lab approved potentially inappropriate chemicals to be used in nuclear waste drums, resulting in radiation leaks which led to the shutdown of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the U.S. only underground nuclear waste repository in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Experts say the organic chemicals used are widely known to cause heat reaction when mixed with the drum’s other contents.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the published e-mails detailed LANL’s approval of two chemical change requests by waste packaging contractor EnergySolutions, to neutralize the pH balance of waste sent to WIPP. According to a June 2013 e-mail, LANL managers approved an EnergySolutions managers’ request to adopt an organic chemical, despite product warnings stating that the chemical is incompatible with metallic nitrates and “strong oxidizers,” such as nitrate salts, both of which are found in the LANL drums.
Another e-mail, dated September 2013, details the LANL approval of another chemical change request by Zeke Willmot, EnergySolutions’ industrial hygienist, in which a new liquid containing an organic ingredient would be used to neutralize acids and bases in the drums. Along with his request, Wilmot noted that “criticality safety issues are not my area of expertise” and “it may be advisable to have LANL personnel weigh in on these issues as well.”
Nitrates and organic matter oxidize when mixed, a reaction that generates heat.
“It wasn’t the most fantastic choice because nitrate salts in combination with organics is a bad mixture,” said Cole Smith, a chemist in NMED’s Hazardous Waste Bureau, who also serves on the NMED team which writes the permit for WIPP.
“That might be the problem right there,” said William Quintana, head of the New Mexico State University chemistry department. “Nitrates are oxidizers. Every chemist knows that.”
NMED is investigating whether WIPP, or contractors hired by LANL, violated any state regulations, leading to the radiation leak accident at WIPP. The WIPP permit to operate does not detail procedures for the neutralization process or for obtaining neutralizing products, and according to Smith, NMED was not involved in the purchasing decisions.
Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn requested the e-mails as part of NMED’s investigation into how DOE and its contractors select which products to use. A secondary theory explaining the heat reaction is that EnergySolutions switched from using a clay-based absorbent in the storage drums to a wheat-based mixture. Flynn is exploring all relevant theories, noting that his investigation is about “understanding what happened and whether they deviated from the regulations.”
“It doesn’t really matter who is to blame,” he said. “They all work for DOE.”
