DOCKET NO: A-98-49

Item: II-B3-124

Drum Puncture in the WIPP Underground

EPA Investigation and Summary

On June 20, 2012, EPA was notified by DOE HQ personnel that a drum had been punctured in 

the WIPP underground on the previous day. The incident took place in Panel 6, Room 5, and the 

affected drum in question was a 100 gallon drum of containing supercompacted waste “pucks” 

from Idaho National Laboratory’s AMWTP. According to DOE’s notification, the incident was

reported to the Central Monitoring Room as soon as it occurred, the facility shifted to HEPA 

filtration of exhaust air, and no release occurred from the drum or from the facility. 

EPA contacted the DOE Carlsbad Field Office regarding the incident. On June 21, CBFO 

provided the following written summary, which has been posted to EPA’s WIPP website

(http://www.epa.gov/radiation/wipp/):

Carlsbad Field Office, Underground Panel 6, Room 5

EM-CBFO--WTS-WIPP-2012-0006 - Emplaced Waste Drum Breached by Forklift Attachment -

(Significance Category 3)

On June 19, 2012, during normal waste emplacement activities in the underground at the Waste 

Isolation Pilot Plant involving contact handled Waste Handling Operations (WHO) personnel, a 

forklift attachment (Harder) breached an emplaced waste drum. A forklift operator had 

approached the waste face with a waste package loaded on the forklift and proceeded to align the 

forklift with a waste stack column. A WHO spotter was in position and signaled the forklift 

operator to stop but there was a delay in reaction time between the spotter's signal and the forklift 

operator's response. The breach was approximately 2 to 3 inches in length and approximately 7 

inches from the bottom of the drum. The forklift operator moved the loaded forklift 

approximately 8 feet away from the waste face and lowered the payload to the ground. The 

Facility Shift Manager was notified. Personnel in the area were directed to leave the immediate 

area through the intake air travel path. Personnel were frisked before they left the area and no 

contamination was detected. The Facility Manager directed the development of a work control 

document, for reentry into the area and to seal the damaged drum.

On July 17, 2012, as part of its annual 40 CFR 191 Subpart A inspection, EPA conducted a 

review of the incident with representatives of DOE and WTS. DOE provided Work Order 

1207637, which was developed specifically for the handling of the breached drum. Upon reentry, 

radiological swipes were taken from the punctured drum in the vicinity of the puncture, and from 

the component of the fork lift which penetrated the drum. Because no elevated radiation was 

detected, no swipes were submitted for laboratory analysis. All air monitoring equipment was 

functioning properly at the time of the incident, and no airborne contamination was detected. It is 

not surprising that there was no loss of containment, since the outer drum contains smaller thinwalled steel drums of waste which are filled with waste and compacted (i.e. “pucks”) and acts 

essentially as an overpack. The drum, BN10440928, had been surveyed, patched and emplaced 

according to Work Order 1207637, which is included as Attachment A.
Repair to Drum BN10440928

EPA concludes that DOE and the site operator followed procedures and effectively addressed 

this incident. DOE has demonstrated the no releases of radioactive materials took place, and no 

additional exposure occurred as a result.

Attachment A: 

CHAMPS Work Order 1207637 

534 Breached Drum Recovery in Panel 6 Room 5