Four nongovernmental groups are calling on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to cancel its review of Waste Control Specialists’ application to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for nuclear waste in West Texas.
Beyond Nuclear, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Public Citizen, and the SEED Coalition co-authored a letter to the NRC on Wednesday, arguing that the terms of the license WCS seeks are precluded by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA).
The 1982 NWPA was amended in 1987, establishing Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the only site to be considered for a national geologic repository for nuclear waste. The Obama administration canceled the Yucca Mountain project in 2011, opting instead for a consent-based siting process. The Waste Control Specialists site, along with a facility planned in southeast New Mexico by Holtec International, would likely fall under that process.
The groups asserted that WCS assumes the Department of Energy will take ownership of the spent nuclear fuel to be stored at the site. The department to date has failed to meet its legal mandate to take title to about 74,000 metric tons of nuclear waste stranded around the country.
“The NRC must drop its NEPA review and dismiss WCS’ license application because the key condition of WCS’ application – federal acquisition of title to commercially-generated spent fuel prior to the opening of a permanent repository – is inconsistent with the NWPA,” the letter reads.
The groups cite the NWPA, which states that prior to the opening of a permanent repository, transfer of spent fuel from commercial operators to DOE is only allowed under an emergency interim storage program. That program expired in 1990. The DOE consent-based siting plan does not anticipate opening of one or more permanent waste disposal sites until 2048.
“Thus the NWPA contains no current provision that would allow DOE to assume title and responsibility for the spent fuel to be stored at the proposed CISF,” the letter reads. “Given the fundamental incompatibility of WCS’ license application with the NWPA, the NRC has no lawful basis to review WCS’ application. Therefore, the NRC must dismiss the application and drop its NEPA review.”
WCS President and CEO Rod Baltzer said by email Thursday that the groups’ letter was not unexpected. He also said the company agrees with the position that there is a need for permanent nuclear waste disposal in a geologic repository. However, that repository is decades away from becoming a reality, Baltzer said.
“We believe that a consolidated interim solution is necessary,” Baltzer wrote. “We also note that the Energy Secretary has recently stated he has the authority to contract with a private entity to store spent fuel from permanently shut down reactors. I can assure you that there are communities all across the country – where this interim waste is currently stranded – that would also agree that an interim solution is very much needed.”
NRC spokeswoman Maureen Conley said the regulator is reviewing the letter.
