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REPP Course Information
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
Radiation Control Program Home

24 Hour Emergency Number
512/458-7460

Use for Reporting Incidents,
Emergencies, and
Accidents Involving
Radioactive Materials,
Radiation Producing Machines
or Vehicles, or Packages Marked "Radioactive" or
"Caution Radioactive"

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)

A Brief History about WIPP

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, is the world's first underground repository licensed to safely ad permanently dispose of transuranic radioactive waste left from the research and productions of nuclear weapons. After more than 20 years of scientific study, public input, and regulatory struggles, WIPP began operations on March 26, 1999.

Located in the remote Chihuahuan Desert of Southeastern New Mexico, project facilities include disposal rooms mined 2,150 feet underground in a 2,000-foot thick salt formation that has been stable for more than 200 million years. Transuranic waste is currently stored at sites nationwide.

WIPP Route through Texas

WIPP plant

Emergency Response Training

As part of the State of Texas Emergency Management plans, the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) has adopted and offers the Department of Energy's Modular Emergency Radiological Response Transportation Training (MERRTT) course for Emergency Responders. MERRTT modules range from an overview of radioactive material and response issues to the more complex topics of radiological instrumentation and offensive actions used at radioactive material incidents. MERRTT will provide Emergency Responders with fundamental knowledge and skills required to respond with confidence to incidents involving radioactive materials. Typical course length is eighth hours.

In addition, an eight hour Medical Management course is also available through DSHS. This course is intended for hospital emergency room doctors and nurses who may be required to treat a patient potentially contaminated with transuranic material from a WIPP transportation accident. Field experts introduce students to the concepts of radiation exposure, external and internal contamination by radioactive materials and radionuclide incorporation. Upon completion, students will be able to properly select and prepare an appropriate treatment/decontamination area with the hospital and pre form necessary decontamination of a patient.

MERRTT Training

	WIPP -- Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, DOE Carlsbad Field Office -- Facility Operations

	New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) WIPP Information Page -- State Regulatory Agency for mixed waste disposal at WIPP

	EPA WIPP Program Page -- Federal Regulatory Agency for radioactive waste disposal at WIPP

External links to other sites are intended to be informational and do not have the endorsement of the
Texas Department of State Health Services.
These sites may also not be accessible to people with disabilities.

For more information contact:
Mike Rutherford
(512) 834-6688 ext. 2021

WIPP tanker truck

Last updated May 9, 2007