Watkins OKs Nuclear Dump in New Mexico

Energy Secretary James D. Watkins on Thursday ordered his department to go ahead with development of a radioactive waste repository in New Mexico, saying it meets all required environmental laws.

The plant will be the country’s first central repository for radioactive wastes from nearly a dozen nuclear weapons plants. The wastes will be placed in salt beds 2,150 feet underground.

Watkins said the plant near Carlsbad, N.M., will not receive any radioactive wastes until January at the earliest because of continuing tests.

“I will not compromise health or safety concerns to meet any schedule,” Watkins said.

The department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant will accept highly radioactive waste for a five-year test period beginning next year, he said.

Watkins signed a formal “record of decision” on a supplement to the environmental impact statement for the plant, certifying that the plant meets federal environmental laws.

The department said, however, that further tests would be conducted on some environmental issues, such as gas generated from metal drums and wastes created as a result of corrosion or bacterial action.

The department “has made significant progress in resolving the issues under our direct control in order to conduct the test phase in an environmentally safe manner,” Watkins said.

“We have a consensus from the scientific community that (the Department of Energy) should begin the test phase at the earliest time possible commensurate with satisfactory completion of applicable safety requirements,” he said.

In Boise, Ida., Gov. Cecil D. Andrus said that he was encouraged by Watkins’ announcement but that “Idahoans have seen many previous deadlines for opening WIPP come and go.”

Idaho and some other Western states have refused to accept more waste from the Energy Department.