Holtec International announced this week its intention to submit its application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday to build and operate a storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel in southeastern New Mexico.
Holtec, along with a coalition of New Mexico counties and cities incorporated as the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance LLC, plans to build a 120,000-metric ton-capacity facility about 12 miles away from the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. The company is seeking a 40-year license for the facility, which it hopes to start operating around 2022.
Holtec is the second company to apply for an interim storage application with the NRC. Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists in April 2016 delivered its own application for a 40,000-metric-ton-capacity facility to be located in Andrews County, Texas, near the New Mexico border, with a projected opening date in 2021.
The two facilities together could house spent fuel that has been stranded at American nuclear reactor sites as a result of DOE’s failure to fulfill nuclear waste disposal duties outlined in the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act. There is roughly 75,000 metric tons of fuel now held at nuclear power plants, and the amount grows by about 2,000 tons a year. The sites would be an interim solution while DOE sites and builds a permanent repository for the waste.
“We are encouraged by the supportive posture exhibited by Energy Secretary [Rick] Perry in his recent confirmation hearing and the DOE’s official affirmation of the private [consolidated interim storage] initiatives by Deputy Assistant Secretary Andy Griffith at the Waste Management Symposium in Phoenix, AZ, on March 9,” Holtec Vice President of Corporate Business Development Joy Russell said in a statement.
NRC spokeswoman Maureen Conley said Friday morning that the regulator had been notified of Holtec’s intention to submit the application through a press release, but had not yet officially received any materials from the company. The agency’s acceptance review is expected to take 60 days, at which point the regulator will decide whether the application is ready for formal review.
Holtec has touted the universal nature of the storage system that will be used at its interim facility. The company is awaiting design approvals from the NRC, so that its Hi-Storm UMAX dry spent fuel storage system can accept every type of canister currently loaded with waste at American reactor sites.
For months Holtec has been on the sidelines watching WCS’ application proceedings with the NRC, twice extending its anticipated filing date with the agency. The regulator in July notified WCS that its 3,000-page application lacked the technical details needed for NRC staff to conduct a full license review, and requested additional information. WCS has filed several rounds of supplemental data since then, delivering the final round of information to the NRC this week.
Holtec’s filing follows the NRC’s presubmittal technical audit, which was carried out in late February at the company’s Technology Campus in Camden, N.J. The application includes safety analysis and environmental reports. The NRC’s license review will involve safety, technical, and environmental assessments, and is expected to take three years, depending on potential objections from other parties.
The facilities could fall under the Energy Department’s consent-based siting process for nuclear waste storage, which was the Obama administration’s alternative to the canceled geologic repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Though DOE has released a draft document for the siting process, its future remains unclear with the Trump administration shifting its focus to restarting the licensing process for Yucca Mountain with the NRC. The Trump administration’s preliminary fiscal 2018 budget proposal would provide $120 million for interim storage and Yucca Mountain licensing activities.
Holtec has scheduled a press conference concerning the license application for April 5 at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.
