A bill making its way through the New Mexico state legislature aimed at blocking a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the state will no longer ban the storage of such waste outright, according to amendments adopted in committee Monday.
A package of amendments on House Bill 127, adopted by unanimous vote in the lower chamber’s Judiciary Committee Monday, removed the measure’s proposed absolute ban on the storage of high-level nuclear waste and spent fuel in New Mexico.
The proposed bill was also updated to allow the state to block certification of a nuclear waste storage site on economic, environmental or environmental justice grounds until a federal repository is operating, sponsor state Rep. Matthew McQueen (D) told the committee.
At deadline Tuesday for Exchange Monitor the text of the amended bill, which passed unanimously in the Judiciary Committee, was not publicly available. The committee recommended that the full state House pass the legislation, as committees are allowed to do in the New Mexico legislature.
The amendments came amid concerns that an absolute high-level waste ban, or a ban on safety grounds, would not be upheld in court, McQueen told the committee Monday. It’s a sentiment that was echoed in a fiscal estimate last week by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). The agency suggested that the state articulate “other bases” for banning spent fuel to give the ban a fighting chance.
Meanwhile, the state Senate-side version of the proposed bill, sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D), is awaiting debate in the upper chamber’s Judiciary Committee after passing the state Senate Conservation Committee Feb. 1. As of Tuesday a vote had yet to be scheduled.
New Mexico’s legislative push to ban high-level waste storage comes as Holtec International is awaiting federal approval to build a planned interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Eddy County, N.M. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reviewing the company’s application — a process that has been delayed while the agency waits for information it needs from Holtec to complete required safety and environmental reviews.
If licensed, Holtec has said that the proposed facility could store around 8,700 tons of nuclear waste in 500 canisters, with room for an additional 10,000 storage canisters that could be added through future license amendments.
