Oak Ridge Transports First Waste Shipment to WIPP Under New Contract

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – The Transuranic Waste Processing Center (TWPC) recently shipped its first load of transuranic (TRU) waste for disposal since coming under the management of Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) cleanup contractor UCOR.

TWPC work was recently moved under the Oak Ridge Reservation contract that continues for the next decade, ensuring appropriate resources and expertise are available to successfully address the remaining challenging TRU waste at Oak Ridge.

Employees at the facility are addressing a stockpile of legacy defense-related research waste. The most recent shipment included 35 drums and weighed nearly 80,000 pounds. After a two-day trip, the load arrived safely at EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico, for permanent disposal.

To complete the shipment, personnel prepared and loaded the waste containers over two days. A 10-person TWPC team worked closely with WIPP’s Central Characterization Program mobile load team.

“The process went like clockwork,” said TWPC Area Project Manager Randy Fadeley. “Everyone on the team was dedicated to getting this job done safely and on time.”

NEW VIDEO ALERT: Watch this brief video on the Transuranic Waste Processing Center's first shipment of transuranic waste to EM's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant since coming under the management of Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management cleanup contractor UCOR. In this photo, Oak Ridge workers load waste drums into one of three shipping casks to prepare for the recent shipment, which included 35 drums. The shipment was safely delivered to the underground waste repository in New Mexico.