In the face of public opposition, the Quay County Commission has rescinded its support for using a site in Nara Visa, N.M., for the Energy Department’s deep borehole nuclear waste storage field test.
Enercon Federal Services and DOSECC Exploration Services have been exploring a site about 300 miles north of DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Citing economic and educational benefits, the commission in October approved a resolution in support for the project. But with public fears that a successful test would lead to additional nuclear waste storage in the state, the three-member board agreed unanimously on Monday that public backlash against the project was too great to sustain their support. Officials said local residents packed Monday’s meeting to express their concerns about the borehole test plan.
“The bottom line is that nobody trusts the federal government,” Commissioner Franklin McCasland said in a telephone interview Thursday, noting that one concern is that even if the county reaches an understanding with current officials, there’s no guarantee that agreement will stand with future project management.
The project is expected to deliver data on whether 16,000-foot boreholes drilled into crystalline rock formations are appropriate for DOE-managed waste. Though the department has stressed that the field test will not involve any actual nuclear waste, only surrogate containers, several communities have shot the project down.
The department in January 2016 awarded a $35 million, five-year field test contract to Battelle Memorial Institute, but the contractor failed to secure public support for two separate test sites, in North Dakota and South Dakota, over the course of several months. County commissions in both states blocked Battelle’s efforts as residents voiced concerns similar to those in Quay County. Battelle also participated in the second round of bidding, again failing to secure public support, this time for a potential site in Dale County, Ala.
Enercon Federal Services did not respond to a request for comment.
DOE used nuclear fuel disposition office Director William Boyle recently estimated that the project will cost about $80 million. DOE is now considering four potential test locations. Along with Nara Visa, California-based AECOM is exploring a site in Pecos County, Texas; Pennsylvania-based TerranearPMC a site in Otero County, N.M.; and South Dakota-based Respec is aiming for Haakon County, S.D.
