WIPP - Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

09/24/2026

Please join us in celebrating an extraordinary milestone for professional driver Tommy Cash, who has earned double national honors in 2026:
• TCA Professional Driver of the Year
• CVSA International Driver Excellence Award (IDEA) Recipient

For the past 23 years, Tommy has taken on one of the most demanding jobs in transportation: hauling legacy transuranic radioactive waste for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) program. He is one of only 36 elite drivers nationwide entrusted with this mission, passing over 1,000 CVSA Level VI inspections.

Beyond his incredible record behind the wheel, Tommy leads as a mentor and trainer at CAST Specialty Transportation, helping raise the bar for the next generation of drivers.

Congratulations, Tommy, on representing the highest standard of road safety and professionalism!

09/21/2026

Record Year for Waste Shipments under Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup Contract

To date, the Department of Energy Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office and Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos, LLC have shipped a record 82 transuranic (TRU) waste shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant this fiscal year. This marks a 91% increase in shipments over FY 2025. ~370 cubic meters of TRU waste (equivalent to about 46 standard dump trucks) were safely removed from Technical Area 54, Area G at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Read more at https://bit.ly/4ivGhXZ!

09/18/2026

08/24/2026

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) announced the selection of Mindy Toothman as its new deputy manager. In this role, Toothman will assist in leading operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and support the national transuranic (TRU) waste management mission across the DOE complex.
Toothman brings more than 20 years of environmental science, project management and federal oversight experience to the position. Most recently, she served as assistant manager for the Office of National TRU Program, where she oversaw WIPP’s characterization, certification, transportation and disposal activities.
To read more, go to: https://wipp.energy.gov/wipp_news_20260824.asp

06/30/2026

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO) offer CONGRATULATIONS to WIPP’s Blue and Red mine rescue teams for an outstanding performance at the Southwestern Regional Mine Rescue Contest in Carlsbad earlier this month. The competition was held over four days at the WIPP Training Center and Southeast New Mexico College.
Blue team took 1st place overall and 1st in the field competition. Red team took 2nd place in the field competition and 2nd for the tech team. Team Trainer Mark Long, Jr. also took 1st place honors. Red team member Justin Medina took first in bench for breathing apparatus and Blue team Member Cole Kessler took 2nd for first aid and bench.
These competitions are more than just trophies – they’re proof that our teams place safety first and are trained, skilled and ready to respond when it matters most. We are incredibly proud of everyone who competed.
The Blue team was composed of Colton Ridgway (captain), Ryan Boatman, Misty Long, Fabian Munoz, Ivan Colorado, Cole Kessler, and Bryce Prouty. The Red team was composed of Mark Long, Jr. (captain), Chris Smith, Terry Grube, Lucas Hiner, David McDougall, Tony Mihelic, Darcee Carlile, Justin Medina, and John Fernandez.

06/02/2026

The Idaho Cleanup Project has successfully resumed shipments of remote-handled transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, New Mexico, for permanent disposal for the first time since 2014. May 12, 2026

05/21/2026

The Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office and Salado Isolation Mining Contractors welcomed Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management (EM) Tim Walsh recently during a visit to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the nation's only deep, geologic repository for defense-generated transuranic (TRU) nuclear waste, a critical part of the Department of Energy’s EM cleanup of Cold War nuclear production sites.
The two-day tour, of both the surface and underground, was attended by Walsh, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne, Chief Operating Officer David Brunnert, Communications Director Justin Doil and Chief of Staff John Howard. It included a look at the operations to dispose of the nation’s (TRU) waste more than 2,150 feet safely and permanently underground at the site outside of Carlsbad, NM.
Assistant Secretary Walsh said, “WIPP is such an important piece to the overall EM mission and broader national security priorities, and to be here, tasting the airborne salt dust in the mine is an experience that I’ll never forget.”

04/17/2026