Legislation introduced Wednesday in the New Mexico Senate would update the responsibilities of the state Radioactive Waste Consultation Task Force to include oversight of commercial spent nuclear fuel storage.
The task force was established in the 1978 state Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Act, largely to act as the New Mexico government’s negotiator for siting, licensing, and operation of the U.S. Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. It remains active today.
The bill from state Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D) would make a number of amendments to the 1978 law. That includes language directing the task force to evaluate federal license applications for privately run disposal sites in New Mexico, including their potential public safety, environmental, health, infrastructure, and transportation effects. The task force would provide any determinations to the New Mexico Legislature, governor, and relevant state agencies.
The legislation, if passed into law, would also authorize the task force to recommend legislation regarding state policies on disposal sites. It would also add the head of the New Mexico Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department to the roster of task force members, which under the 1978 law are the state secretaries of energy, minerals and natural resources, health, environment, and public safety.
New Jersey energy technology company Holtec International has applied for a 40-year license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and operate a facility in southeastern New Mexico for storage of 8,680 metric tons of used fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. With additional NRC authorizations, the site could hold more than 100,000 metric tons of the radioactive material for up to 120 years. It is not intended to be a permanent disposal facility, but instead to hold used fuel until a federal repository is available.
Steinborn is vice chairman of the Legislature’s bicameral Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee. The panel’s former chairman, he has expressed concerns about the safety of the Holtec project.
