Salado Isolation Mining Contractors Proudly Awards $20,000 in Local Scholarships to High School Seniors

CARLSBAD, N.M., May 4, 2026 – Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO) proudly announces its 2026 SIMCO scholarship program recipients. Helping to build brighter futures with its commitment to education, SIMCO celebrated the recent award of 20 scholarships totaling $20,000. These scholarships went to high school seniors in Eddy and Lea counties. They were selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants.

“SIMCO is committed to investing in our student’s post-secondary education. A college education can have a lasting impact on their lives. We’re proud to play a small part in that journey,” said Dr. Joy James-Foster, SIMCO Education Outreach Lead. “SIMCO scholarships are just one way we’re supporting our students and investing in their futures.”

Students from Artesia, Carlsbad, Hobbs and Loving received scholarships. They were:

Artesia High School
Clay Kincaid

Carlsbad High School
Reenson Akwiembi, Raj Bhakta, Jaylynn DeAnda, Makayla Franco, Jaren Fuentes, Tristan Henley, Emma Hernandez-DeAnda, Abigail Huston, Alexia Lujan, Omar Machuca, Megan McKibben, Chloe Melvin, Hanli Norman and Ariyana Rogers

Hobbs High School
Mia Amezcua, Chloe Conder, Dakota Hayes and Basilia Hernandez

Loving High School
Tabias Chacon

SIMCO also provided funding for the Martin Luther King Scholarship Fund, the Carlsbad Class Act Scholarship Fund, the Hobbs Bash Graduation Night Fund, and the Falcon Fest Scholarship Fund.

To be considered for a SIMCO scholarship, students must plan to attend an accredited college or university.

About WIPP

SIMCO is the management and operations contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad. WIPP, the nation’s only permanent geologic repository for defense transuranic nuclear waste, began disposal operations in 1999.

TRU waste began accumulating at generator sites since the 1940s with the beginning of the United States’ nuclear defense program. As early as the 1950s, the National Academy of Sciences recommended deep disposal of long-lived TRU radioactive wastes in geologically stable formations, such as deep salt beds.

In 1979, Congress authorized WIPP, and construction began in 1980. In 1992, Congress limited the disposal of defense-generated TRU waste by enacting the Land Withdrawal Act. In 1998, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency certified WIPP for safe, long-term disposal of TRU waste. A year later, the New Mexico Environment Department issued a Hazardous Waste Facility Permit for WIPP to operate.

Located in Southeast New Mexico, about 33 miles east of Carlsbad, the WIPP repository is mined out of a 2,000-foot-thick salt bed formed approximately 250 million years ago where TRU waste is disposed of 2,150 feet underground. After the waste is emplaced, the salt will slowly encapsulate the containers, permanently and safely entombing them.