A mile underground | Inside southern New Mexico’s WIPP

March 26th, 2014 by Steven St John

A shadow falls on a wall containing stored radioactive waste 2150 ft underground inside The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Eddy County. WIPP received $172 million as part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act accelerate nuclear waste cleanup. (Steven St. John) Signs on the corner of the mine walls 2150 ft underground inside The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Eddy County. WIPP received $172 million as part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act accelerate nuclear waste cleanup. (Steven St. John) An employee waits for security doors to open 2150 ft underground inside The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Eddy County. WIPP received $172 million as part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act accelerate nuclear waste cleanup. (Steven St. John) 2150 ft underground inside The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Eddy County. WIPP received $172 million as part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act accelerate nuclear waste cleanup. (Steven St. John) Radioactive waste is stored 2150 ft underground inside The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Eddy County. WIPP received $172 million as part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act accelerate nuclear waste cleanup. (Steven St. John) A worker checks electronics systems by headlamp 2150 ft underground inside The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Eddy County. WIPP received $172 million as part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act accelerate nuclear waste cleanup. (Steven St. John) Workers wait for the elevator operator to drop them 2150 ft underground inside The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Eddy County. WIPP received $172 million as part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act accelerate nuclear waste cleanup. (Steven St. John) Sunflowers grow alongside a saltwater evaporation pond at The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Eddy County. WIPP received $172 million as part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The saltwater pond is used to capture runoff as part of the mining process. A new pond was built adjacent to this using recovery funds. (Steven St. John)

I had a once in a lifetime opportunity a few years to go inside the controversial Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP in Southern New Mexico. This was before the incident, but I thought these images delivered another look. Spooky feeling, having that much earth over top of your head.

Editors, these pictures are available for license though my website archive.

Posted in Albuquerque | No Comments »
«
»
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

CAPTCHA Image
*

Sorry, no posts matched your criteria.