Idaho
Why did so much of WIPP’s 479 nuclear waste shipments in 2023 come from Idaho?
More New Mexico Cold War waste should be sent to WIPP, officials say
Hundreds of shipments of nuclear waste were buried at a facility near Carlsbad in 2024, and the federal government was poised to send even more waste to the site in 2024.
For that work, the Department of Energy’s contractor Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO) earned about $11.5 million or about 89% of its available $13 million fee between Feb. 4, 2023 when SIMCO took over the contract and the end of the last federal fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2023.
DOE records show 479 shipments of transuranic (TRU) nuclear waste were received at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2023, from federal labs and other nuclear facilities around the U.S.
More: Cable snaps inside utility shaft at WIPP, pausing work for now
TRU waste is made of clothing materials, equipment and other debris irradiated during nuclear activities, and it is buried in a salt deposit at WIPP about 2,000 feet underground.
The DOE said in 2023 it worked to increase shipments to 17 per week, and hold that level in the coming years.
Most of the waste, about 79%, came from Idaho National Laboratory in the form of 377 waste shipments.
More: Cold War nuclear waste is prioritized at Carlsbad-area repository. How much is there?
The next-highest shipment load came from Los Alamos National Laboratory at 50 shipments last year, followed by the Savannah River Site in South Carolina with 27 shipments.
That means about 90% of the waste sent to WIPP in southeast New Mexico came from outside the state.
Last year, amid negotiations for WIPP’s next 10-year operations permit with the New Mexico Environment Department, NMED sought to set aside space at WIPP for Los Alamos waste to ensure that facility saw adequate benefit from the repository New Mexico hosts.
More: Here’s what New Mexico will get out of the $883 billion federal defense bill
DOE officials countered that no backlog of waste ready for shipment and disposal at WIPP was left at Los Alamos, which frequently averaged up to two weekly shipments throughout 2023.
And that could increase in the coming years as Los Alamos, along with Savannah River, was where the DOE planned to increase the production of plutonium pits – triggers for nuclear warheads – by 2030.
But that would be newly generated waste different from the existing or “legacy waste” leftover from the Cold War which WIPP was originally intended for, said Don Hancock with the Southwest Research and Information Center.
More: More than 400 shipments of nuclear waste came to Carlsbad-area repository in 2023
He argued only four shipments of such legacy waste were sent from Los Alamos since the new permit took effect late last year.
“That’s pretty pathetic. I would say so far they’re going poorly in that regard,” Hancock said of prioritizing Los Alamos waste. Virtually all of the shipments have been from Idaho and Savannah River.”
This year, the DOE was required by the NMED permit to submit a plan to define “legacy waste” by November and Hancock said that report could show that WIPP planned to dispose of more waste than it can legally hold.
More: Final testing underway at $486M air system for nuclear waste site near Carlsbad
“There’s this question of what gets priority,” he said. “The state and a lot of people think legacy waste needs to be prioritized.”
At the same time, the DOE is required via the same permit to submit an update on potential progress in finding a new repository outside of New Mexico, a report Hancock predicted would show the federal government is not pursuing such a project.
“The state is going in that direction. That’s going to be a tough one for them to handle,” he said of the requirement. “They’re going to have to say everything will fit in WIPP.”
More: A nuclear reactor in Carlsbad? City officials call for project at federal waste repository
Thus, the two reports due in November could contradict each other, Hancock said.
“They’re going to be hard-pressed to have two contradictory reports,” he said.
But for now, the DOE appeared to prioritize waste from Idaho National Laboratory for disposal at WIPP, and Hancock said that could continue in the next fiscal year based on the current structure of bonuses earned by SIMCO.
More: Oil & gas industry joins fight against nuclear waste site proposed in southeast New Mexico
That structure sees SIMCO earn $5,500 per waste shipment received and emplaced at WIPP, up to 520 shipments, according to the WIPP Performance Evaluation Management Plan (PEMP) reviewed by the Carlsbad Current-Argus.
It also provides another $7,000 per Los Alamos shipment received, up to 40 such shipments from that site.
Hancock contended SIMCO was likely to hit the Los Alamos cap, then take waste “wherever it can get it” to the 520-shipment cap, to maximize the bonus payments.
“I would argue the bonus structure for this next fiscal year does not prioritize Los Alamos,” he said.
More: Feds tout progress in cleaning up nuclear waste at Los Alamos using Carlsbad-area site
Shipments from Idaho were recently accelerated, as the laboratory sought to move waste away from that facility because many of the shipping containers were reaching the age limit allowable to be sent with “overpacking” or adding an additional protective drum around the shipment, according to the lab’s November report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.
Earlier last fall, shipments from Idaho were reduced from 12 per week to seven due to budgetary restrictions, read the report, but were restored in mid-November.
“They’re hurrying to get as many waste drums out of there as they can to avoid overpacking,” Hancock said.
The DOE also faces numerous deadlines to get waste out of Idaho per a 1995 settlement agreement with the state and federal government.
Mark Bollinger, manager of the Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office said he believed WIPP met and exceeded its waste disposal goals in 2023, particularly at Los Alamos.
“WIPP’s mission to safely receive and dispose of waste shipments is instrumental to cleanup efforts at Los Alamos and other waste-generating sites, and we safely exceeded our goal at WIPP in 2023,” he said in a December statement.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.
POCATELLO, Idaho — Idaho agriculture officials are taking aggressive action after five Japanese beetles, a highly destructive invasive pest, were detected in Acequia near Rupert, according to information provided by the Idaho Farm Bureau Foundation.
The Idaho Farm Bureau Federation reports the Japanese beetle, a non-native insect that feeds on more than 300 species of agricultural and ornamental plants, poses a significant threat to Idaho agriculture. In response to the discovery, the Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) has deployed about 800 traps in the Rupert area to determine the extent of the infestation.
“We take an aggressive approach to make sure we don’t see those numbers boom before we can actually handle the situation,” said Vene Stewart, an ISDA pest survey and detection specialist helping lead eradication efforts.
Stewart said Japanese beetles are not selective feeders.
“They eat about 300 different types of flowering plants. Pretty much anything that flowers, they would love to demolish,” Stewart said.
The ISDA is also conducting eradication efforts in Caldwell and Pocatello. Last year, the department detected 160 Japanese beetles in Caldwell and 12 in Pocatello. Residents in those areas, as well as Acequia, may notice the yellow traps used to monitor the pest’s presence.
“We will be treating all three of those areas this year,” Stewart said.
Caldwell, like Acequia, is located in a major agricultural region. About 700 traps have been placed throughout the Caldwell area.
“The Caldwell infestation isn’t moving at all,” Stewart said. “In fact, where we are finding the beetles is getting to be a smaller and smaller area. You like to see that.”
The department has also placed approximately 550 traps in the Pocatello area.
Stewart said eradication efforts require ongoing monitoring and treatment.
“It’s unfortunately not something that we can just treat one time and assume everything’s going to be (OK) the following year,” she said. “It’s something we’re going to have to keep up on.”
According to a recent University of Idaho study, agriculture accounts for one in every nine jobs in Idaho, 17% of total sales and 12% of the state’s gross domestic product.
ISDA officials have worked to eliminate Japanese beetles wherever they appear in Idaho. About 15 years ago, large numbers of the beetles were detected in the Boise area. Officials say the state’s eradication campaign there resulted in no detections in Boise for several years. According to ISDA officials, the effort became the largest documented Japanese beetle eradication in U.S. history.
“We definitely want to protect our agriculture, especially in Caldwell where it is such an agriculture-(rich) area,” Stewart said. “It’s definitely important to the residents and the farmers out there to make sure that we keep our eye on it and make some progress.”
Stewart said the department’s eradication efforts have received support from farmers, local residents and city officials.
Adult Japanese beetles are about a half-inch long with metallic green bodies and copper-colored wing covers. The insects can skeletonize leaves and leave holes in plants while feeding.
Officials warn that if the beetle were to establish a permanent presence in Idaho, it could lead to reduced crop production, increased pesticide use and potential market restrictions through quarantine measures.
Native to Japan, the beetle was first detected in the United States in 1916 and is now found throughout most states east of the Mississippi River.
Although Idaho has preventative measures in place to reduce the risk of introduction from infested states, ISDA officials believe the beetles still arrive by hitchhiking with people moving from affected areas.
MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho (CBS2) — A joint investigation by the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office and the Mountain Home Police Department has led to the arrest of a man accused of multiple sexual offenses in Elmore County and the city of Mountain Home.
An arrest warrant was issued on June 10, 2026, for Dillon Thorpe following an investigation conducted by Elmore County Sheriff’s Office detectives. Thorpe was taken into custody on June 11, 2026, on a warrant by the Idaho State Police.
Thorpe is charged with rape, child enticement, lewd conduct with a minor, and sexual abuse of a child under the age of 16.
Authorities said additional details about the investigation will not be released at this time because of the nature of the crimes and to protect the privacy of victims and witnesses.
Law enforcement believes there may be additional suspected victims and/or witnesses who have not yet been identified. Anyone with information or evidence relevant to the investigation is encouraged to contact the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office or the Mountain Home Police Department to make a report.
DENVER (KDVR) — Three Colorado motorcyclists died on Tuesday in northern Idaho after a pickup truck driver, also from Colorado, hit all three while trying to pass another vehicle, according to the Idaho State Police.
The crash happened at about 4 p.m. Tuesday outside the town of Kooskia on U.S. 12, police said. The pickup truck driver, identified as a 60-year-old Colorado Springs woman, was headed west on the highway when she crossed the double yellow line in a no-passing zone while trying to pass another vehicle.
She then collided head-on with the three motorcycles that were headed east on the highway.
The three motorcyclists died at the scene. The Idaho County Coroner identified the motorcyclists as: Ethan Powers, 35, of Timnath, Jeremy Coleman, 45 of Berthoud, and Nathan McCormick, 26, of Loveland.
The Colorado Fraternal Order of Police later identified Coleman and Powers as a sergeant and deputy with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office and McCormick as Coleman’s son-in-law.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends, coworkers, and the members of FOP Lodge 4 as they face the difficult days ahead,” the union said. “The law enforcement profession is built on service, sacrifice, and commitment to others. Sgt. Coleman and Deputy Powers dedicated their lives to protecting their community, and their impact will continue to be felt by those who had the privilege of serving alongside them.”
The truck driver was taken to a hospital for medical evaluation before being released then arrested. She was booked into the Idaho County Jail on probable cause for three counts of vehicular manslaughter, police said.
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