Jeremy L. Dillon and Kenneth Fletcher
RW Monitor
4/24/2015
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) has voiced her support for efforts to bring a spent nuclear fuel consolidated interim storage facility to southeastern New Mexico, according to an April 10 letter she wrote to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. Martinez’s letter is one of the strongest symbols of consent a state has sent the Department of Energy since DOE began looking for a consent-based host community for an interim facility.
In her letter, Martinez backs the efforts of the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, an organization based in southeastern New Mexico that has already expressed its interest to the Department of Energy in hosting a facility. Martinez cites the pre-existing nuclear workforce expertise and the dry, remote climate of the region as reasons for her support. “This letter is to inform you of my support of the community leaders who continue to spearhead the effort to bring a consolidated interim storage facility for spent fuel to southeastern New Mexico,” Martinez wrote. “The recent decision by your administration to adopt a consent-based approach for waste management should highlight areas such as southeastern New Mexico where there is broad support in the region for such an endeavor. The Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance (ELEA) is an organization with regional participation by the City of Carlsbad, City of Hobbs, Eddy County, and Lea County.”
She added, “There is a strong pre-existing scientific and nuclear operations workforce in the area, and the dry remote region is well-suited for an interim storage site. ELEA has already selected a location that has been vetted extensively.”
Moniz Announcement Inspired Letter
According to Martinez spokesman Michael Lonergan, the letter was inspired by Moniz’s recent announcement that the Department would be taking “active steps” on siting a consent-based interim facility. “This letter comes on the heels of U.S. Secretary of Energy Moniz’s recent announcement that the Obama Administration plans to initiate a consent-based siting process for waste disposal sites before the end of the calendar year because there is no consolidated interim or permanent disposal site for spent fuel,” Lonergan said in an email this week. “As the Secretary of Energy explained in announcing the plan, a consolidated interim storage facility could have the effect of controlling and reducing this national risk by ensuring that spent fuel is stored at a single specialized location subject to the oversight and high safety and technical standards of the of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.”
A consent-based pilot consolidated storage facility is the preferred strategy of the Department of Energy to satisfy the nation’s spent fuel disposal needs, but due to language in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act the Department cannot consider other sites beyond Yucca Mountain in Nevada without Congressional approval. Moniz, however, in an announcement last month, said that the Department would begin to take “affirmative steps” to siting a consent-based pilot interim storage facility. DOE has been working on generic analyses of how to move forward with an interim storage facility, but now DOE will take a much more proactive approach in talking with actual communities about hosting a facility, Moniz said. Construction of a facility, though, cannot occur without Congressional approval.
Letter Follows Incidents at WIPP and Los Alamos
Martinez’s letter, though, comes at a time where the news could prove to be controversial. The radiological release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant last year, which was linked to issues with waste processed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, have increased questions about radioactive waste disposal in the state. Carlsbad officials have continued to support both WIPP and the potential for hosting an interim facility, though.
New Mexico Joins Texas in Consent-Based Interest
Martinez’s support joins Texas as two state governments willing to look at potentially hosting an interim storage facility. Last Year, former Gov. Rick Perry (R) and Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus (R) both voiced their support for looking at the potential of hosting an interim storage facility. Straus has asked state lawmakers to begin considering the logistics and economic impact of potentially hosting a high-level radioactive waste disposal site or interim storage facility, and Perry charged the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality to prepare a report looking at the history of spent fuel disposal and lessons-learned from previous attempts. Citing this state level support, Waste Control Specialists announced earlier this year its intention to construct a commercial interim storage facility by 2020.
