CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) - U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Thursday toured southern New Mexico’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the nation’s only underground nuclear repository.
The Carlsbad plant was forced to close in February 2014 after an improperly packed drum of waste ruptured and caused a radiation release.
Shipments of waste only recently began making their way to the plant for disposal after state and federal officials cleared the way for operations to resume.
Perry on Wednesday visited the Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico, where nuclear research has been among the main focuses since the lab’s founding years during World War II.
He has vowed to advocate for nuclear power as the nation looks for ways to fuel its economy and limit the effects of electricity generation on the environment.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.