# 2025-15741: EPA OKs New Panels for Radioactive Waste Burial Site

2025-15741, Approval of Replacement Waste Panels 11 and 12 at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, is a Federal Register rule from Environmental Protection Agency published 2025-08-19 (as of 2026-06-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-15741
- As of: 2026-06-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Document number: 2025-15741
- Title: Approval of Replacement Waste Panels 11 and 12 at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
- Type: Rule
- Agencies: Environmental Protection Agency
- Citation: 90 FR 40236
- Published: 2025-08-19
- Effective: unknown
- Comments close: not stated
- Significant: no
- Touches household money: no
- Regulation identifier numbers: none
- Last updated: 2026-06-11

## In one line

EPA OKs New Panels for Radioactive Waste Burial Site

## Summary

The EPA gave the green light to the Department of Energy to use two new waste panels (11 and 12) at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for safely storing defense-related radioactive waste. This change replaces lost storage space and keeps the site safe for thousands of years. This means the DOE can continue its important cleanup work without delays or extra costs.

## Abstract

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, or the Agency) has approved the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE, or the Department) planned change request to dispose of defense transuranic (TRU) waste in replacement panels 11 and 12 in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). This decision is based on a thorough review of information submitted by DOE, independent technical analyses, and public comments. EPA found that DOE demonstrated that the use of two replacement waste panels to replace lost waste disposal volume in panels 1, 7, and 9, would provide a reasonable expectation of the WIPP remaining in compliance with the 10,000-year release limits set by the "Environmental Standards for the Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes" at 40 CFR part 191.

## Effects PRIA read

No economic effects identified for this document.

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## Sources
- [2025-15741 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/08/19/2025-15741/approval-of-replacement-waste-panels-11-and-12-at-the-waste-isolation-pilot-plant)
- [2025-15741 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-08-19/pdf/2025-15741.pdf)

## Related
- [Previous: 2025-15720, Civil Penalties; 2025 Inflation Adjustments for Civil Monetary Penalties](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-15720)
- [Next: 2025-15753, Notice of Termination of Rulemaking Action](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-15753)
- [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-15741 (as of 2026-06-11).