CARLSBAD, N.M. - Drivers who transport transuranic (TRU) waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) are trucking industry veterans with impeccable driving and safety records.
CAST Specialty Transportation, which holds the transportation contract for WIPP, is required to hire individuals who meet standards such as driving a semi-tractor trailer combination at least 325,000 miles within the last five years or 100,000 miles per year in two of the last five years.
“The Department of Energy places great importance on the safe transportation of TRU waste to the WIPP facility," EM Carlsbad Field Office Intuitional Affairs Program Manager James Mason said.
CAST will not hire people with chargeable incidents or convictions for moving violations in commercial motor vehicles within the past five years. WIPP drivers must be U.S. citizens with no felony convictions. They must pass a background investigation.
“Finding qualified drivers is often a challenge due the number of requirements that must be met," CAST Specialty Transportation Terminal Manager Gallon Fuller said.
Once employed, drivers undergo training for about two months to become qualified to transport WIPP shipments. Instruction covers TRU waste package tie-down requirements, inspections, and recovery techniques. This ensures drivers can work with local officials and recover a TRU waste package in the event of an incident.
Drivers also learn how to assist local first responders in responding to an incident and operate radiation detection equipment.
WIPP shipments are inspected according to criteria of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, an association that aims to achieve uniformity, compatibility, and reciprocity of commercial motor vehicle inspections and enforcement by certified inspectors. WIPP drivers learn to conduct pre-inspections for each shipment, ensuring vehicles pass stringent inspections and shipments remain on schedule.
Since beginning operations in 1999, WIPP has received more than 11,900 shipments, accounting for over 14.2 million loaded safe miles, equal to 571 trips around the Earth’s equator.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
