Holtec International said this week it plans by March 31 to submit its license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility in southeast New Mexico.
The company plans to build a 120,000-metric-ton capacity facility about 12 miles from the Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. NRC license reviews include safety, technical, and environmental assessments, which takes about three years, depending on potential objections from other parties, and the company anticipates starting operation around 2022.
Representatives from Holtec and the NRC staff met Wednesday for an update on the company’s submission planning.
The Florida-based company already has perspective on the application process, as Waste Control Specialists submitted its own interim spent nuclear fuel storage license application in April. After a slow start to the process, in which the NRC requested additional technical details from WCS, the regulator has deemed the filing complete, meaning it’s ready for the full review. Waste Control Specialists hopes to open its West Texas facility in 2021.
“We are observing the process that WCS has been following with the NRC,” Holtec Vice President of Corporate Business Development Joy Russell said over the phone Thursday. “We’ve reviewed the publicly available information that was asked of WCS, and we’re incorporating any information that we feel needs to be included in our application to make sure that we submit a complete and robust application on March 31.”
John Heaton, chairman of the Carlsbad Mayor’s Nuclear Task Force, in an interview this week said he and other officials from New Mexico recently met with Holtec President and CEO Kris Singh and other executives.
“Holtec reiterated its firm commitment to the HI-STORE Project,” Russell wrote in an email. “We are very pleased with the State continued support and strong commitment to the HI-STORE project.”
WCS’ Baltzer Encouraged After NRC Dockets Application
Waste Control Specialists is encouraged that the NRC is moving forward with a formal review of the company’s application to build and operate its consolidated interim storage facility, President and CEO Rod Baltzer said on Jan. 27.
WCS is seeking a 40-year NRC license for a facility designed to hold 40,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel — a large portion of the roughly 75,000 metric tons of waste now stored at commercial reactor sites around the country. The facility would be built in eight phases at WCS’ waste storage complex near Andrews, Texas.
“The WCS license application is now docketed and moving forward at the NRC, and we are grateful to the agency for its efforts and we look forward to continuing to work with them,” Baltzer said in a statement after the regulator announced it was moving forward with the review. “We hope that many people will take this opportunity to learn more about our proposed project. We are encouraged that the NRC is moving forward with the environmental review process as it must be completed before the NRC can make a determination on our application.”
The NRC has scheduled two public meetings on the application:
– 7-10 p.m. Mountain time, Feb. 13, at the Lea County Event Center, 5101 N. Lovington Highway, in Hobbs, N.M.
– 7-10 p.m. Central time, Feb. 15, at the James Roberts Center, 855 TX-176, in Andrews, Texas.
