Carlsbad Sandia acts as the scientific advisor to the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) repository project for WIPP regulatory compliance and recertification.
Carlsbad Sandia’s geochemistry work is primarily laboratory-based, with focused research on engineered barrier structure and chemistry interactions, gas generation and corrosion analysis, solubility and Pitzer interaction determination, and colloid transport geochemistry. Carlsbad Sandia’s hydrology work is primarily field-based through the maintenance and investigation of the WIPP groundwater monitoring network through groundwater-quality sampling, well testing and analysis, video logging, localized and regional groundwater flow modeling, and other associated groundwater characterizations.
While WIPP-related research is Carlsbad Sandia’s primary focus, they also participate regularly in the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program (NMSBA), solving unique challenges presented by local business and bolstering local economic growth and community outreach.