"We (Pantec) did it by the book and were successful in large part because of NFS' decisive can-do attitude and knowledgeable support" Battelle Pantex letter

NFS officials continue to receive accolades for their “can-do” attitude during a history-making project to move transuranic waste from the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, TX, to Los Alamos National Laboratory. The shipment of three drums of material moved the entire DOE TRU waste inventory in Texas.

“This gets Texas out of the TRU waste business. It is a nice risk reduction for Texas,” said Mona Williams, waste management division director for the DOE’s Albuquerque Operations Office. Williams said the purpose of the shipment was to consolidate waste destined for the WIPP facility, currently under construction. The three 55-gallon drums will temporarily be stored at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

NFS was chosen for the project because of the company’s experience in the transportation of TRU waste and because of the company’s ability to provide NRC-licensed transportation containers. NFS offers transportation services and three Type B Model 6400 Super Tigers for rent or lease. NFS’ David Wise claims the project was a team effort.

“The safe and compliant movement of TRU material from Pantex was a great example of teamwork,” said Wise, NFS’ Director of Business Development, Environmental Services. DOE Albuquerque, DOE Amarillo, Mason & Hanger Corporation, Battelle-Pantex, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the State of New Mexico’s Governor’s Office helped make the shipment a success.

“We (Pantex) did it by the book and were successful in large part because of NFS’ decisive can-do attitude and knowledgeable support,” said officials of Battelle Pantex in a letter of commendation to NFS.

Wise said the project was a money-saver for the Pantex facility. “For a fixed price contract of less than $20,000, the DOE was able to eliminate a long-term $50,000-per-year liability at Pantex.”

Because the TRU shipment was conducted across state lines, the shipment was tracked using “TRANSCOM,” a unique satellite tracking system used to monitor TRU waste shipments throughout the United States. The Los Alamos National Laboratory already has several thousand barrels of plutonium-contaminated waste, generated by decades of weapons work, that is slated to end up at the WIPP underground nuclear depository near Carlsbad, NM.

In addition to the Pantex project, NFS successfully used the Type B containers to transport TRU wastes from Erwin, TN, to Oak Ridge for interim storage at the conclusion of its own D&D project. The Super Tigers have also been utilized to transport volume-reduced plutonium-contaminated gloveboxes from Argonne National Laboratory - East in Illinois to Hanford, WA, for disposal. For more information regarding the Super Tigers or transportation services, contact Wise at (423) 743-1795.