Nuclear Pictures

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is the first major nuclear waste disposal facility to be built in the United States, and so far also the only one. This Department of Energy (DOE) facility east of Carlsbad, New Mexico, is a final disposal site for government-generated radioactive waste, including material from nuclear weapons production. The Plant was constructed in the early 1980's and finally received the first load of waste in the late 1990's. Constructed at this facility is a mile long corridor 2,150 feet underground, off of which are several chambers for waste storage. There are 30 or so support structures at the surface, in a secure zone covering over 10,000 acres. All the waste disposed of at WIPP is from other DOE and military sites (none of it is commercial, high-level nuclear waste--that is slated for Yucca Mountain, Nevada), and is comprised of mostly irradiated laboratory material, such as gloves, protective clothing, and other disposable test equipment.