Crews investigating a radiation leak from the federal government's underground nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico hope to make a second trip into the half-mile deep repository on Friday.
The Department of Energy detailed the plans at a community meeting Thursday evening. They said workers who went into the mine Wednesday found no airborne radiation.
The crews installed four air monitors and communications equipment. On Friday, they said workers are prepared to encounter contamination as they make their way further into the mine. If all goes well Friday, officials say that should set the stage for a third entry, when crews will try to figure out where the radiation leaked from.
The dump near Carlsbad has been shuttered since mid-February, when the mysterious leak sent low levels of radiation into the air and contaminated 21 workers.
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