Holtec International is committed to its plan to build and operate an interim storage facility for used nuclear fuel in New Mexico, no matter what route Congress eventually selects for managing the nation’s nuclear waste, according to the chairman of the organization partnering on the project.
“If there is not a bill passed, Holtec and us in New Mexico, think we’re still the solution … and we’re going to definitely go forward with it,” John Heaton, chairman of the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, said Thursday at the ExchangeMonitor’s RadWaste Summit in Summerlin, Nev.
Heaton added that Holtec is also ready to take title to spent fuel shipped to its planned facility in southeastern New Mexico upon opening. Presuming approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is currently conducting its acceptance review of the company’s license application, that is scheduled for 2021.
Congress in 1987 set Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the site for a permanent repository for U.S. spent reactor fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The location remains hotly debated, and there has been increasing focus in recent years on consolidating used fuel in small number of locations until the final storage space is ready.
Congress remains divided on the question: The House of Representatives’ fiscal 2018 energy appropriations bill would together give DOE and the NRC $150 million to resume licensing activities for Yucca Mountain; the Senate version of the bill provides no money for Yucca Mountain, instead pressing DOE to move ahead with interim storage.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill similarly disagree on nuclear waste strategy, with various bills submitted in the current congressional session. The most prominent, Rep. John Shimkus’ (R-Ill.) Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017, is broadly intended to promote Yucca Mountain but was amended to allow DOE to enter into one contract on interim storage before the NRC rules on the license for the Nevada repository. Meanwhile, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) in January submitted legislation authorizing DOE to enter into public-private contracts for storage of certain waste, using expenditures from the federal Nuclear Waste Fund.
“We think that that generally is a pretty good bill and would like to see that get passed,” Heaton said.
