The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week dashed Holtec International’s hopes of getting a federal license for its proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel sometime in the near future, as the agency pushed its timeline for a final safety review to early next year.
NRC staff determined that Holtec still has not provided enough information needed to complete a required safety review of the company’s planned interim storage site in Eddy County New Mexico, the agency said in a letter dated Friday. Holtec needs to shore up its explanations of “external hazards, the evaluation of the proposed canister transfer building, and the evaluation of the off-site dose estimate,” the letter said.
If the company can clear things up by the end of June, NRC determined that it could “publish a final SER [safety report] (in conjunction with its final licensing decision) by January 2023.” Holtec had most recently forecast that NRC would complete its review in the second quarter of 2022.
This marks the fourth time the NRC has sent Holtec back to the drawing board to prepare for the agency’s safety review. The third time was in November. Each time, the projected licensing date for the privately operated spent fuel depot has slipped.
Holtec submitted its most recent round of safety-related information to NRC on April 15.
Meanwhile, the commission has everything it needs to wrap up a required environmental impact statement for the proposed site, the letter said. That review, which is “not contingent” on the safety report, should be ready by July.
“Holtec will continue to provide the additional information requested by the NRC, which is part of the normal review process,” a spokesperson for the company told RadWaste Monitor in a statement Friday. “When Holtec and the Eddy Lea Energy Alliance (ELEA) began the licensing process in 2017, we knew it would be a long journey and we are pleased that we are near a final licensing decision.”
Holtec has said that its interim storage site, planned for Eddy County, N.M., 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 in future license amendments.
The company’s project has come under scrutiny in New Mexico over the last 12 months or so. The U.S. District Court for New Mexico in March dismissed a suit from state Attorney General Hector Balderas challenging NRC’s authority to license the proposed site, and in Santa Fe, two separate bills aimed at blocking Holtec’s project have died in the state legislature.
Meanwhile, NRC in September licensed a similar site planned for west Texas by Waste Control Specialists-Orano USA joint venture Interim Storage Partners.
Updated: 05/30/2022 11:29 p.m. Eastern time with comment from Holtec.
