A recent poll conducted by New Mexico-based environmental organizations found that more than half of respondents opposed a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the Land of Enchantment, local media reported over the weekend.
The December survey from the Southwest Research and Information Center and the Center for Civic Policy, viewed by RadWaste Monitor Thursday, concluded that 60% of New Mexican voters opposed Holtec International’s proposed consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) in Lea County, N.M.
The groups’ poll also suggested that, among the 1,000 or so respondents, around 30% supported the project, and roughly 10% were undecided.
Among Democratic voters, around 70% opposed the proposed Holtec site, and a slim majority of Republicans, roughly 51%, were against the project. Voters identifying as independent were about 55% opposed, the poll said.
Respondents that lived in southeast New Mexico, where the proposed Holtec site would be built, were around 56% opposed to the project.
The poll told respondents that a private company plans to “import all of the country’s high level nuclear waste” into New Mexico and store it “for forty years or longer.” The poll also said that “experts predict that up to 13 accidents will occur during the 10,000 rail shipments” required to move spent fuel to the proposed site.
There are currently around 90,000 tons of spent fuel stored at reactor sites nationwide. If built, Holtec has said that its site would initially be able to store around 8,700 tons of spent nuclear fuel in 500 canisters. That capacity could be increased by 10,000 canisters via future license amendments.
The Southwest Research and Information Center, which has an anti-nuclear bent, said on its website that it “strongly oppose[s]” the proposed Holtec site, calling it “dangerous, unnecessary, and expensive.”
Camden, N.J.-based Holtec’s proposed CISF, which is currently under licensing review at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has been the subject of intense opposition in recent months. New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is suing NRC in federal court, arguing that federal law bars the government from licensing interim storage in the absence of a permanent repository.
In Santa Fe, state lawmakers have, over the last two legislative sessions, introduced measures aimed at blocking the proposed site on the state level. So far, no such legislation has landed on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s (D) desk — although the governor is opposed to the project.
Meanwhile, NRC has said that it could make a final licensing decision on the proposed Holtec CISF as soon as February. Agency staff in June recommended in an environmental impact review that the site receive a federal license.
