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.
Idaho
Idaho Lottery results: See winning numbers for Pick 3, Pick 4 on April 19, 2026
The results are in for the Idaho Lottery’s draw games on Sunday, April 19, 2026.
Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on April 19.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from April 19 drawing
Day: 9-5-1
Night: 8-0-6
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from April 19 drawing
Day: 2-7-0-3
Night: 4-3-3-3
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Idaho Cash numbers from April 19 drawing
15-28-31-38-45
Check Idaho Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from April 19 drawing
32-42-52-53-55, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Idaho Lottery drawings held ?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Pick 4: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Lucky For Life: 8:35 p.m. MT Monday and Thursday.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- 5 Star Draw: 8 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Idaho Cash: 8 p.m. MT daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Idaho
‘Unrelenting’: Statehouse reporters recap 2026 legislative session in Idaho Falls – East Idaho News
IDAHO FALLS — Two prominent Idaho Statehouse reporters say this past legislative session was “unrelenting,” chaotic, largely driven by budget cuts, and they see the Legislature getting more powerful.
Kevin Richert and Clark Corbin recapped this past legislative session at a forum on the ISU Idaho Falls Campus on Thursday.
Richert is a senior reporter at Idaho Education News, with more than 30 years of experience covering education policy and politics. Corbin is a senior reporter at the Idaho Capital Sun who has covered every Idaho legislative session, gavel to gavel, since 2011.
The event was hosted by the City Club of Idaho Falls, which “exists to sponsor and promote civil dialogue and discourse on all matters of public interest” and strives to be “nonpartisan and nonsectarian,” according to its website.
Budget cuts
Both Richert and Corbin said this session was driven by budget cuts. Corbin said this was due to a lack of revenue stemming from past income tax and the adoption of new federal tax cuts.
“Cuts for almost every state agency and state department dominated the legislative session,” Corbin said. “We’re talking about 4% budget cuts for most state agencies and departments in the current fiscal year, and we’re talking about an additional 5% budget cuts for almost all state agencies and departments starting next year — fiscal year ’27 — and continuing permanently.”
RELATED | Gov. Little signs so-called ‘crappy bill’ to cut state budget
Richert said he thought higher education was taking the brunt of budget cuts. “It’s not a question of whether tuition fees are going to go up at the universities; it’s a question of how much,” he said.
When asked what the future would hold, Corbin said the budget cuts aren’t likely to go away, and their effects will be felt over time.
“There could always be a change of leadership in the House, but they do expect the budget crunch to continue in the next year’s legislative session,” Corbin said.
‘Radiator capping’
Richert said he has one word to describe this year’s legislative session: “unrelenting.”
One thing that made it feel that way was that some bills were recycled over and over, he said. For example, Richert said the Legislature saw five different versions of a bill that proposed cuts to the Idaho Digital Learning Alliance.
“We had multiple bills that came from the dead,” he said.
The journalists said this is partly due to a tactic called “radiator capping.” The term means to replace the entire car — the bill’s text, in political terms — while only keeping the radiator cap: the bill number. By rewriting a bill on the House or Senate floor while maintaining its number, failed bills can effectively bypass the committee process.
“Those are the changes they tried to make on immigration bills, on union bills this year,” Corbin said. “It made it extremely difficult for the public to have any idea what was going on, to have any opportunity to participate in the legislative process and share their opinions.
A more powerful, more chaotic Legislature
Richert said Idaho’s annual legislative sessions are trending longer, commonly going into the early part of April, and producing a record number of bills.
“There are rumblings that this Legislature, as a body, is wanting to expand its reach over more and have even more power over the other branches of government to the point of — are we trending towards more of a full-time professional legislature?” Richert said. “We’re a long way from there.”
“The legislative branch of government, particularly the Idaho House of Representatives, is the most powerful I’ve seen it in 16 years of covering state government,” Corbin said.
He added that this year’s legislative session was unlike any he’s experienced.
“The overall temperature in the building was bad,” Corbin said. “It was divisive. It was chaotic. People were not hiding their feelings of disgust for each other. These traditional ideas of decorum and respect very much fell by the wayside.”
Richert said Gov. Brad Little vetoed very few bills that came across his desk, and the ones he did weren’t high-profile.
RELATED | Idaho Gov. Brad Little issues 5 vetoes. Here are the bills affected
“I think the governor behaved like he was very concerned about the supermajority-controlled Legislature, and I think that that Legislature, in turn, asserted itself and took control of the agenda this year,” Corbin said.
Are legislators representing Idaho?
Corbin said some bills this year also focused on the LGBTQ+ community, such as a bathroom restriction for transgender individuals, and a bill that banned the City of Boise from waving a Pride flag.
RELATED | Idaho governor signs bill to criminalize trans people using bathrooms that align with their identity
RELATED | Boise removes LGBTQ+ pride flag as Idaho governor signs bill to fine city for its display
When asked if these were what Idahoans wanted, Corbin said it doesn’t necessarily appear so to him, based on his review of Boise State University’s annual public policy survey.
“For years and years, I’ve heard concerns about affordability of housing, access to housing, managing the growth of the state of Idaho, having quality public schools available for our young people — that also generates a workforce pipeline for some of our businesses,” Corbin said. “I’ve heard about paying for wildfires. I’ve heard about having good roads, supporting access to public lands, public recreation, those are the concerns I hear from Idahoans.”
“But the Legislature spent a significant amount of time over the last two, three, four years placing additional restrictions on LGBTQ communities, placing restrictions on what teachers can and cannot teach in their classrooms, what school boards can and cannot do,” Corbin continued. “They talked about requiring a moment of silence every day to begin the public school day, where children could pray or read the Bible.”
RELATED | Gov. Brad Little signs public school ‘moment of silence’ bill into law
Corbin said it may be his own opinion, but perhaps it is easier to “make a bunch of noise about what’s going wrong and (distract) people with social issues” rather than focus on harder issues that Idaho faces.
“I think what you saw on the policy space is a reflection of the fact that you had legislators thinking about reelection, and legislators with time on their hands — and that’s not always a good combination,” Richert said.
Accountability
When asked how people can keep legislators accountable, Corbin said it can be done by following the state Legislature through trusted news sources, going to community events and voting.
“This is a great year to practice accountability, because all 105 state legislators and all statewide elected officials are up for election this year,” he said.
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Idaho
Idaho Lottery results: See winning numbers for Powerball, Pick 3 on April 18, 2026
The results are in for the Idaho Lottery’s draw games on Saturday, April 18, 2026.
Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on April 18.
Winning Powerball numbers from April 18 drawing
24-25-39-46-61, Powerball: 01, Power Play: 5
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from April 18 drawing
Day: 9-5-1
Night: 0-2-4
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from April 18 drawing
Day: 4-6-0-4
Night: 9-9-8-2
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from April 18 drawing
18-21-22-32-42, Star Ball: 10, ASB: 03
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Idaho Cash numbers from April 18 drawing
08-19-22-31-44
Check Idaho Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from April 18 drawing
17-19-47-48-55, Bonus: 04
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Idaho Lottery drawings held ?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Pick 4: 1:59 p.m. (Day) and 7:59 p.m. (Night) MT daily.
- Lucky For Life: 8:35 p.m. MT Monday and Thursday.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- 5 Star Draw: 8 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Idaho Cash: 8 p.m. MT daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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