THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES of sciences, ENGINEERING, AND medicine
Division on Earth and Life Studies
Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board
Committee on Disposal of Surplus Plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
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Congressional Briefing
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
via Web Meeting – 4:30 p.m.
on
Review of the Department of Energy's Plans for Disposal of
Surplus Plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
Requested by Congress in P.L. 115-31, this new report, from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, is the final report following up on an interim study which evaluated the general viability of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration’s (DOE-NNSA’s) conceptual plans for disposing of 34 metric tons (MT) of surplus plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a deep geologic repository near Carlsbad, New Mexico. It provided a preliminary assessment of the general viability of DOE-NNSA’s conceptual plans, focused on some of the barriers to their implementation. This final report addresses the remaining issues and echoes the recommendations from the interim study.
This briefing was for members of Congress and congressional staff only. The report was publicly released on April 30, 2019 and can be found, in its entirety, on the Web site of the National Academies Press.