The Department of Energy discovered damaged bags of magnesium oxide inside the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant while trying to find the source of a February radiation leak.
The bags placed atop waste containers do not contain radioactive material themselves. The DOE said Thursday that the cause of the damaged bags in panel 7 of the repository is unknown. An inspection Wednesday showed no issues with the roof or the walls of the area in question.
The Las Cruces Sun-News quoted a Nuclear Waste Partnership manager as saying that workers will return to the area with a camera that can reach over the bags and look for the source of the damage. The bags are used to absorb moisture and carbon dioxide in the repository, which stores transuranic defense waste in tunnels carved from a New Mexico salt formation.
The DOE also noted that cleanup continues in a waste hoist tower affected by a truck fire that shut down the repository several days before the leak. Crews are cleaning soot from the 45-ton lift that will be needed for further recovery efforts underground.