The Dallas County Commissioners Court on Tuesday formally opposed transport of high-level radioactive waste through the jurisdiction on its way to a planned storage facility in West Texas. Instead, the spent nuclear reactor fuel should be kept at its points of origin around the nation until a permanent repository is built, according to the resolution, approved unanimously by the four commissioners present at the morning meeting.
Waste Control Specialists last April filed for a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license to build and operate an interim facility in Andrews County, Texas, that could hold up to 40,000 metric tons of spent fuel. If everything goes right for the Dallas-based company, the site would begin operations in 2021 and stay open at least until DOE establishes a final resting place for the waste.
Commissioner Theresa Daniel said the county panel would oppose interim storage until there is clarity on the transportation routes for the spent fuel and potential risk. “Since the transportation study isn’t due to be completed until 2022, this is our only opportunity to raise this issue before WCS license is decided,” Daniel, who introduced the resolution, said by email after the vote.
The Bexar County Commissioners Court and San Antonio City Council in recent weeks have approved similar resolutions, though the city’s statement notably opposed only waste transport through its territory rather than the project itself.
The Dallas County resolution emphasizes the potential danger from transport of spent fuel, citing a 1985 DOE study that found that even a small amount of radioactive material could contaminate a 42-square-mile area.
Waste Control Specialists has emphasized the safety record of nuclear waste transport. CEO Rod Baltzer said in a recent blog post that no container of highly radioactive waste has been breached in roughly 7,000 spent nuclear fuel shipments globally dating to 1971.
