Los Alamos lab exceeds record for waste shipments
Posted at: 08/08/2012 12:08 PM
By: The Associated Press
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) - Los Alamos National Laboratory says it has shipped a record amount of radioactive waste to a southeastern New Mexico facility for disposal.
The fiscal year goal is 184 shipments, but the lab is on track to make 200 shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad.
The lab's 172nd shipment, which is one more than last year, left Los Alamos last week.
The shipments contain so-called transuranic waste, most of which is the byproduct of nuclear defense program research and weapons production.
It often is referred to as legacy waste.
The northern New Mexico laboratory has sent more than 1,000 shipments of the waste to southeastern New Mexico since the federal government opened the nuclear waste repository in 1999.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) 8/8/2012 5:01:54 AM (GMT -6:00)
 |
Tweet |
|
