New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Tuesday called on President Donald Trump to oppose commercial plans for facilities in her state and neighboring Texas that could temporarily store tens of thousands of tons of radioactive used fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants.
“Given that a permanent repository for high-level waste does not exist in the United States and there is no existing plan to build one, any ‘interim’ storage facility will be an indefinite storage facility, and the risks for New Mexicans, our natural resources and our economy are too high,” Lujan Grisham wrote at the end of a three-page letter to the White House, first reported by the Albuquerque Journal.
The letter details perceived hazards posed by the sites, which the former member of Congress has raised repeatedly since taking office in January 2019. Lujan Grisham specifically discussed the potential impacts on the agricultural and energy sectors, which provide billions of dollars in annual revenue to the state and are crucial to the southeastern New Mexico region in which Holtec International’s consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) would be built.
The White House on Wednesday referred questions about the letter to the Department of Energy, which did not respond to a query by deadline.
New Jersey-based energy technology company Holtec applied in March 2017 to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for authorization to store up to 8,680 metric tons of spent fuel in 500 canisters in Lea County, N.M. With further approvals from the regulator, the facility ultimately could be expanded to just-underground storage of 10,000 canisters with over 100,000 metric tons of waste, for up to 120 years.
Interim Storage Partners, a joint venture of Orano and Waste Control Specialists, applied in June 2018 for an NRC license covering above-ground storage of 5,000 metric tons of material in nearby Andrews County, Texas. Its site could eventually hold 40,000 metric tons for 120 years.
The NRC is conducting technical reviews of both license applications, but staff has preliminarily recommended approval for each in separate draft environmental impact statements issued earlier this year. The proceedings are due to wrap up next year, but the agency has acknowledged potential delays to its schedule from the COVID-19 pandemic A decision on the licenses would be expected shortly after completion of the technical reviews.
The facilities could provide locations for nuclear power plant operators to send their spent fuel, which for now remains primarily stored on-site at the place of generation. The Department of Energy is required by law to dispose of that material, but does not yet have anywhere to put it.
“As we continue through the NRC regulatory process, we continue to work closely with our partner, the Eddy Lea Energy Alliance (ELEA) and community leaders to ensure that we meet all regulatory requirements and address all concerns,” Holtec said in a statement Thursday. “We worked closely with the previous [New Mexico] administration and will continue to work with the current administration and look forward to further constructive discussions as this process moves forward.”
Interim Storage Partners did not comment on Lujan Grisham’s letter by deadline Friday.
Lea and Eddy counties, where Holtec has sited its project, produce $300 million of New Mexico’s roughly $3 billion in annual agriculture revenue, Lujan Grisham told Trump.
The regional Permian Basin oil and gas reservoir is also central to the state’s $2 billion in annual revenue from the natural gas and oil industry, she added. Lea and Eddy counties were the No. 2 and No. 6 6 U.S. oil-producing counties as of 2019, according to the governor, citing the Energy Information Administration.
“Establishing an interim storage facility in this region would be economic malpractice,” Lujan Grisham wrote. “Any disruption of agricultural or oil and gas activities as a result of a perceived or actual nuclear incident would be catastrophic to New Mexico, and any steps toward siting such a project could cause a decrease in investment in two of our state’s biggest industries.”
Lujan Grisham cited opposition to interim storage from New Mexico’s All Pueblo Council of Governors, members of the state’s congressional delegation, state municipalities, and others. Transportation of the radioactive used fuel poses a hazard, along with storing it under ground level in a region with shallow groundwater and sinkhole risks.
Holtec has emphasized the safety of storage in a seismically stable region, in fuel canisters held within steel and concrete silos, which it says could withstand a strike by a missile or airplane. The company and its partner in the project, the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance (ELEA), have touted the economic benefits of the facility.
ELEA, a coalition of the two counties and the cities of Hobbs and Carlsbad, provided the 1,000 acres of land on which the facility would be built. It says the project would create 215 jobs for construction and operations workers, along with at least $2.4 billion in capital investment over its life cycle.
