Several New Mexico state legislators wondered Friday if a proposed temporary used nuclear fuel storage site east of Carlsbad could become permanent by default.
Opponents of Holtec International’s planned consolidated interim spent fuel facility also asked, during a hearing of the New Mexico Legislature’s Interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee, why the radioactive waste could not stay at nuclear power reactors until the permanent repository mandated by Congress is ready to receive the material.
“We don’t have a timeline on how many years the material will be in southeastern New Mexico,” said state Sen. Carlos Cisneros (D). State Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard (D) added: “I’m convinced there is no true plan for a repository.”
In March 2017, Holtec submitted its application for a facility that would offer underground storage of used fuel now held on-site at nuclear power plants around the county. The Lea County site would provide centralized, interim holding of up to 120,000 metric tons of material until the Department of Energy builds the permanent repository.
The NRC technical review is expected to be complete by July 2020. If approved, Holtec hopes to open the initially licensed part of the facility, with capacity for 8,680 metric tons of used fuel, by 2022.
A number of New Mexico legislators are concerned about the NRC making decisions before their government can review and officially weigh in on the project.
Holtec is partnering on the project with the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, a coalition of jurisdictions in the region. John Heaton, chairman of the organization, said at the meeting there is risk in leaving the used fuel at current locations: Reactors need water for cooling, meaning radioactive material is located near oceans, lakes, or rivers, he said. Some nuclear plants are also in areas prone to seismic shifts, Heaton added. Assuming the federal government successfully builds the long-planned repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, he said, it could take “a couple or three decades” for it to open, he said.
The NRC has determined that spent fuel can be safety stored on-site at reactors, or away-from-reactor facilities, until a repository is available, commission Chairman Kristine Svinicki has said.
