Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup Contractor Achieving Banner Year for Waste Shipments to WIPP

Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos LLC waste operations crews load U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved transportation casks, which are used to safely transport transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant - the only permanent repository for transuranic waste in the United States.

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos LLC (N3B) have completed a record number of transuranic (TRU) waste shipments under the Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup Contract.

In fiscal year (FY) 2026 to date, EM-LA and N3B, the contractor for the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) legacy cleanup, have completed 82 TRU waste shipments to DOE's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). This marks a 91% increase over 43 shipments in FY 2025.

"N3B is making great strides in the LANL legacy cleanup," said Brad Smith, N3B president and general manager. "Not only have we completed a record number of TRU waste shipments for the year, but we are also meeting or exceeding established targets for low-level and mixed low-level waste shipments."

FY 2026 shipments to WIPP included approximately 370 cubic meters of TRU waste, equivalent to about 46 standard dump trucks. This is the largest volume shipped since N3B began its contract in 2018.

TRU waste consists of materials contaminated with man-made radioactive elements - primarily plutonium - with atomic numbers greater than uranium ("trans-uranic"). "Legacy" waste refers to radioactive and hazardous materials generated before Oct. 1, 1999.

A major contributor to this year's progress is the shipment of corrugated metal pipe (CMP) waste formerly buried at Technical Area-54, Area G, at LANL. The CMPs contain cemented radioactive liquid waste generated between 1975 and 1978. In 2024, N3B completed retrieval and size reduction of the CMPs, enabling safe packaging and shipment.

EM-LA and N3B are working with the WIPP Central Characterization Program to characterize and certify the waste for shipment to WIPP. This partnership is essential to ensure every waste container meets WIPP requirements for disposal.

In addition to TRU waste, N3B has shipped more than 480 cubic meters of low-level and mixed low-level waste offsite for permanent disposal - enough to fill roughly 50 standard dump trucks.

"We look forward to building upon our success and meeting our obligations as part of the LANL legacy cleanup," Smith said. "I am proud of our employees and their accomplishments."

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Stephanie Gallagher, 505-257-8563, [email protected]