Idaho Reaches New Heights With Waste Shipments

A shipment containing transuranic waste drums departs the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project at the Idaho National Laboratory Site en route to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico for permanent disposal.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho - The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) and its cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site are celebrating an important accomplishment in transuranic waste shipping operations. Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC) sent 365 transuranic waste shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 - the highest annual total for the Idaho Cleanup Project since fiscal year 2013, when the site sent 372 shipments to WIPP.

Since 2022, IEC has sent more than 827 shipments containing over 19,000 transuranic waste drums to WIPP, amounting to more than 70% of all waste received at the underground repository during that period. Crews will continue to meet a commitment to the state of Idaho by certifying and safely shipping transuranic waste to WIPP into the next decade.