ABSTRACT
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for implementing an effective, environmentally-sound solution to the problem of radioactive waste disposal. A large volume of radioactive waste from US defense programs exists in the form of transuranic (TRU) waste. The solution envisioned by the DOE for disposal of the defense program TRU waste is to emplace it into a deep underground facility expressly engineered for this purposed in bedded rock salt. The DOE project that is now accomplishing this goal is the Waste Isolation Pilot Plan (WIPP) located near Carlsbad, New Mexico.
