A stratigraph of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's underground layers, where Transuranic waste is safely stored.
This week, Celeritex, LLC landed a contract worth up to $17.8 million with the Office of Environmental Management, having demonstrated through a competetive process that this small business is up to the task of securing and isolating defense-generated Transuranic waste.
Celeritex LLC is a joint venture, temporarily bringing together Project Services Group, LLC, and DeNuke Contracting Services Inc of Suwanee, Georgia, to create a mutually-beneficial team. As Celeritex, the joint venture will be providing support services for the Mobile Loading Unit, loading Transuranic waste containers into packaging that's been approved by the Nuclear Regulator Commission and safely transporting it to disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (located 26 miles outside of Carlsbad, New Mexico.
Once at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP for short, the waste will be permanently disposed in WIPP's rooms mined out of an ancient salt formation, buried 2,150 feet below the surface of the ground. The site began waste disposal operations in 1999, and it was specifically designed to safely isolate defense-generated Transuranic waste from people and the environment.
On November 1, 2012, Celeritex LLC will assume responsibility for the job, kicking off the contract's three-year performance period and two-one year extension options.
Small businesses like Celeritex, LLC, are the backbone of the nation's economy, creating two out of every three net new jobs and driving innovation across the country. For more information about small business contracting, visit http://smallbusiness.energy.gov