Radioactive Waste Disposal SCADA

U.S. Dept of Energy
Carlsbad, New Mexico

Operators at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) monitor and control 13 vital systems at the radioactive waste repository, including Underground Ventilation, Electrical Distribution, HVAC, Fire Protection, Environmental Monitoring, Radiation Monitoring, and Plant Protection using a new Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition (SCADA) system designed and installed by Custom Automation.

Vital systems are monitored and controlled 24/7 at the WIPP, using newly installed equipment that was commissioned in record time.

Transition to the new system from an old 1980's Distributed Control System (DCS) had to be accomplished while WIPP was fully operational, without disruption of ongoing radioactive waste handling. With careful planning and timely execution, controller panels were sequentially commissioned and put "on-line" with the new SCADA system, while the old DCS was proportionally decommissioned.

The new SCADA system embraces open standards for expandability and maintainability. The redundant PLC fiber optic network is Ethernet-based.

Ron Dickert, WIPP Senior Engineer said "A technically qualified team of individuals evaluated many proposals against detailed criteria.  These individuals represented several viewpoints including engineering, maintenance, and operations. The team decided that Custom Automation and their proposed solution ... was the best overall choice for the WIPP."

The panel controllers are Linux-based IPm units from Sixnet, which support industry-standard Modbus protocol. The IPm controllers are programmed in IEC-61131-3 standardized languages for distributed control, and are lightly loaded for extensive growth potential. Custom Automation is a Sixnet IPm Qualified Integrator.

The SCADA system is currently being expanded to include oversight for additional hardware systems.