Bechtel has won a three-year extension from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to continue managing and operating the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Under the leadership of the Bechtel-led Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO), the site has surpassed its waste-shipment targets every year since the start of the contract, reaching its 1,000th shipment earlier this year.
“We are pleased to extend SIMCO’s contract for the next three years,” said Mark Bollinger, Manager of DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office. “SIMCO has been an exceptional partner, safely emplacing waste from across the nation while completing critical infrastructure projects ahead of schedule and under budget, all without disrupting WIPP’s mission or compromising safety.”
WIPP is the only deep geological repository for nuclear waste in the US. It’s a system of disposal rooms mined out of an ancient salt bed 2,150 feet underground. It has operated since 1999, celebrating its 25th anniversary of accepting transuranic waste from DOE clean-up sites across the US. The waste consists of items contaminated with small amounts of plutonium and other human-made radioactive elements. The waste has been accumulating since the 1940s as part of the nation’s nuclear defence programme dating back to the Manhattan Project.
Two new panels have been constructed at the west end of WIPP. These were needed to replace space lost after a 2014 incident contaminated parts of the underground facility. The incident occurred when an incorrectly packaged drum of waste shipped from Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico ruptured due to a chemical reaction. The resulting radiation release contaminated parts of the WIPP underground and led to a three-year shutdown of the facility’s primary operations.
Since 2022, the SIMCO team has strengthened the repository by delivering major infrastructure upgrades, ensuring uninterrupted waste processing, and completing more than 2m safe work hours in 2025 with no lost-time incidents. “Bechtel’s close partnership with DOE, our strong safety culture, and delivery focus has enabled us to lay the groundwork for safe, compliant and effective operations at WIPP for decades to come,” said Ben Souther, Bechtel’s General Manager of Environmental and Security. “The progress we’ve made over the past three years under SIMCO is a true credit to our people who continue to drive safe, smart solutions at WIPP.”
Bechtel’s involvement with WIPP started in 1978, initially leading the site investigation and conducting geologic and seismic analyses. The team also handled mathematical modelling for waste and underground rooms, along with heat transfer and salt creep studies. Once the decision was made to move forward, Bechtel led engineering and major equipment procurement, managed construction planning and scheduling, and prepared safety analyses and environmental reports.
Recent infrastructure improvement projects by Bechtel-led SIMCO include:
- Delivery of the Underground Ventilation System (UVS), the largest containment ventilation system in the DOE complex, over a year early, $10m under budget, and with minimal impact to WIPP activities. UVS delivers 540,000 cubic feet per minute of clean air into the repository, more than tripling previous airflow.
- Completion of construction and start of operations for the new utility shaft more than a year ahead of schedule and $5m under budget. This adds ventilation capacity while also serving as another access and egress point into the mine.
- Completion of the $15m refurbishment of the salt pocket and salt hoist, the sole channel for transporting mined salt to the surface. Years of geologic pressure had deformed the original 55-foot-deep cavity, requiring a full recut to restore function.
