Federal agency apologizes, vows to provide more information at future meetings
Attendees questioned the transparency of nuclear waste operations at a federal repository near Carlsbad during a public meeting held Wednesday on proposed changes to the site’s permit to operate, arguing the hearing did not allow meaningful feedback as little prior information was given to the public.
The meeting was held ahead of the Department of Energy’s submission of two permit modification requests (PMRs) for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant that would allow the facility to use four new types of shielded containers to handle waste with higher radioactivity and adjust its audit schedule for generate sites that send waste for disposal.
The PMRs were planned for submission to the New Mexico Environment Department in April, and a subsequent public meeting was planned once accepted. But at the pre-submittal meeting, a newly added condition from the recent 10-year permit renewal, no copies of the draft were offered for public review.
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Non-government organizations in attendance at the meeting said they were unable to develop any questions or feedback without the actual language of the PMRs, chiding the DOE for its apparent failure to provide drafts before the meeting.
Employees with Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO), the DOE-hired contractor that runs the WIPP site, did give short power point presentations at the meeting on the two alterations, totaling about 20 minutes, but also did not provide the slides to attendees, furthering their frustration.
“Is it my understanding that there was no draft PMR for us to look at? Then what are we doing? This is unacceptable,” said Joni Arends with Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. “I don’t understand what DOE is doing six months into the permit.”
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At future pre-submittal meetings, now required for class 2 or higher PMRs under the new permit language enacted in October 2023, which entail significant changes to WIPP’s operations, Arends demanded the DOE and SIMCO furnish copies ahead of time to allow public feedback.
“What new authority does DOE and WIPP have to not provide the PMRs to the public for this meeting? You’re going to have to start all over again,” she said of the approval process. “It’s a waste of time. It’s a waste of taxpayer money.”
‘All we can do is apologize,’ DOE says
Rick Chavez with SIMCO alluded to comments made the previous night during a public forum by DOE Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) Manager Mark Bollinger who when prompted about the PMR language agreed it should have been provided in advance of the meeting.
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“As DOE indicated last night, we will be providing the drafts ahead of the pre-submittal meetings,” Chavez said.
Megan McLean, a WIPP specialist with NMED’s Hazardous Waste Bureau, said the state agency was “pushing” to have the DOE provide the language ahead of the meeting to facilitate meaningful dialogue.
“We have at NMED been pushing to have drafts shared ahead of time. This is a learning process, and this is the first pre-submittal meeting we’ve had since the condition was added to the permit. I think the message is getting across and the next one will be better,” McLean said.
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She also criticized SIMCO for requiring attendees to request speaking privileges via Zoom during the virtual meeting.
“It seems we need to ask permission to be unmuted. That doesn’t really facilitate a back and forth. In a townhall style meeting, we have a small group in these meetings, we can be cordial enough to not have to raise our hands.”
Michael Gerle, environmental regulatory compliance…
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