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Assistant Secretary Walsh Tours WIPP, Applauds Workforce on Safety Record; Savannah River National Laboratory Makes Strong Showing at 2026 AI+ Expo; and much more! - micheletkearney@gmail.com - Gmail
Assistant Secretary Walsh Tours WIPP, Applauds Workforce on Safety Record; Savannah River National Laboratory Makes Strong Showing at 2026 AI+ Expo; and much more! - micheletkearney@gmail.com - Gmail
Assistant Secretary Walsh Tours WIPP, Applauds Workforce on Safety Record
CARLSBAD, N.M. — Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management (EM) Tim Walsh recently viewed cleanup progress and safety improvements at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the nation's only deep, geologic repository for defense-generated transuranic nuclear waste, a critical part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) remediation of Cold War nuclear production sites.
Walsh and other EM leaders took part in a two-day tour that included a look at operations to safely and permanently dispose of the nation's transuranic waste more than 2,150 feet underground in an ancient salt formation left over from the Permian Sea.
“WIPP is such an important piece to the overall EM mission and broader national security priorities,” Walsh said.
The EM team visited both the surface and underground portions of WIPP and viewed a newly completed system to significantly increase airflow through the WIPP underground. Air exiting the underground passes through a HEPA filtration system made up of 22 filtration units.
“The new Underground Ventilation System, now the most advanced of its kind in our enterprise, significantly enhances airflow, reliability and worker safety,” said Mark Bollinger, manager of EM’s Carlsbad Field Office, who led the tour along with leaders from WIPP management and operations contractor Salado Isolation Mining Contractors.
While touring 2,150 feet below the surface, the EM team witnessed the scale of the operation to emplace transuranic waste and how safety plays a major role in WIPP’s success. They also viewed portions of the waste emplacement process, from when the waste arrives at the site to waste processing.
“What impressed me is this is a unique operation. It's not like a typical commercial mining operation where you're going to extract some sort of mineral, and it's all about production,” Walsh said. “This is really all about safety.”
Walsh also spoke at an employee rally, citing WIPP’s impeccable safety record — a major workforce milestone.
“Achieving 3.2 million worker hours without a lost-time accident is a huge accomplishment and a testament to how you not only look out for yourself, but you look out for each other. This is an amazing facility,” Walsh said.
During the visit, Walsh joined CAST Specialty Transportation management on a tour of the company’s new, state-of-the-art trucking terminal in Carlsbad. CAST safely transports transuranic waste shipments from generator sites across the DOE complex to WIPP. Walsh had a chance to get in the driver’s seat of a CAST truck and honk the airhorn.
-Contributor: Rebecca Valdez
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