http://www.businessinsider.com/r-officials-delay-reopening-of-new-mexico-nuclear-waste-site-2015-8

The opening of an underground nuclear waste dump in New Mexico just got delayed indefinitely
Joseph J. Kolb, Reuters
Aug. 1, 2015, 8:11 PM

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Reuters) - The planned March 2016 reopening of an underground nuclear waste dump in New Mexico has been pushed back indefinitely because of unanticipated challenges, U.S. officials said.

A radiation leak at the U.S. government's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant that originated in a disposal chamber half a mile (1 km) below ground at the center near Carlsbad, New Mexico, exposed more than 20 workers to small amounts of radiation in February 2014, officials have said.

The accident led to the suspension of key operations at the site, the Energy Department's only permanent underground repository for certain types of radiological waste tied to U.S. nuclear labs and weapons sites.

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"While the WIPP recovery program continues to make significant progress, the original target date of March 2016 for resuming waste emplacement operations is no longer viable due to a variety of unanticipated issues," said a news release from the U.S. Department of Energy that contained Bryson's statement.

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