Blending mining and nuclear industries at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

摘要

At the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) traditional procedures for underground mining activities have been significantly altered in order to assure underground safety and project adherence to numerous regulatory requirements. Innovative techniques have been developed for WIPP underground procedures, mining equipment, and operating environments. The mining emphasis at WIPP is upon the quality of the excavation, not (as in conventional mines) on the production of ore. The WIPP is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) project that is located 30 miles southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico, where the nation's first underground engineered nuclear repository is being constructed. The WIPP site was selected because of its location amidst a 607 meter thick salt bed, which provides a remarkably stable rock formation for the permanent storage of nuclear waste. The underground facility is located 655 meters below the earth's surface, in the Salado formation, which comprises two-hundred million year old halites with minor amounts of clay and anhydrites. When completed, the WIPP underground facility will consist of two components: approximately 81 square kilometers of experimental areas, and approximately 405 square kilometers of repository. 3 figs.