By John Stang
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission should extend its public scoping comment period on a proposed spent reactor fuel storage facility in southeastern New Mexico to allow the state’s Legislature and public agencies to review and comment on the project, New Mexico lawmakers said recently.
In a series of identical Feb. 27 letters, the NRC told the lawmakers it is preparing a response to the request from nine state senators and 21 state representatives in two letters sent to the agency earlier in the month. There was no immediate word at deadline Friday on whether the response had been sent.
Energy technology company Holtec International, of Camden, N.J., in March 2017 applied for an NRC license to store as much as 8,680 metric tons of used fuel from commercial nuclear reactors in the first segment of an interim storage facility that ultimately could hold up to 120,000 metric tons of radioactive waste.
After a nearly yearlong acceptance review of the license application, the nuclear-industry regulator said on Feb. 28 it would begin full environmental, safety, and security reviews for Holtec’s planned facility. It expects to complete the process by 2020. Holtec hopes to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel in 2022.
The New Mexico legislative session ended in mid-February, and the Legislature as a whole won’t meet again until 2019. The lawmakers want more time for legislative committees and state agencies to provide input on various matters for the site, including water contamination risks; seismic concerns; contamination risks to local industries, ranches, and dairies; and potential state liability. Other concerns involve the longevity of the spent fuel canisters; how the facility would deal with damaged casks; and determining what state permits would be needed. Also, the letter voiced concerns about Holtec’s facility co-existing with training flights from nearby U.S. Air Force bases.
The letters noted that a typical NRC scoping comment period lasts only 45 days. “The scoping process will be over before the New Mexico Legislature has had an opportunity to hold public hearings, receive expert testimony, get citizen input and make scoping recommendations,” according to the Feb. 14 letter from members of the state House, addressed to NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki, Commissioners Stephen Burns and Jeff Baran, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
The NRC can extend the scoping comment period, during which the agency will take input on the extent of the impacts that will be considered in its technical review of the application. The NRC will use this information to determine what should be covered in a later environmental impact study as part of the full technical review of the application. The NRC will eventually announce an intent to develop an environmental impact statement, including seeking written comments and scheduling public hearings.
The lawmakers also asked the NRC not to issue the consolidated interim storage facility license to Holtec before the state has had time to file its input.
The appropriate New Mexico lawmakers could not be reached to elaborate on the letters.
Don Hancock, Nuclear Waste Program director at the Albuquerque-based Southwest Research and Information Center, also voiced concerns about the NRC and Holtec going through the scoping comment period before the people of New Mexico “know what is going on.” He argued that if the spent fuel canisters at the proposed dry storage facility are to last several decades, then the NRC and Holtec can spend a year getting public input on the site.
Holtec’s HI-STORE CIS (consolidated interim storage) facility would be built in Lea County in partnership with the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, an organization of local municipalities. It would feature the HI-STORM UMAX storage system, which is designed to be compatible with all currently certified spent fuel storage canisters, which would be stored vertically beneath the grade of the storage pad.
The Energy Department is required under the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act to find a permanent home for what is now over 75,000 metric tons of spent reactor fuel stored at power plants around the country. With a permanent repository still years away, at best, interim storage at a small number of sites has been seen as a step toward DOE meeting its legal mandate.
Holtec would have to request license amendments if it wants to expand its storage level beyond the initial 8,680 metric tons.
Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists in April 2016 applied for an NRC license for a planned storage facility in West Texas, but asked the agency to suspend the review last April. There has been no word on whether the company’s new owner, private equity firm J.F. Lehman, will resume the licensing process.