Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, New Mexico’s members of the U.S. Senate are urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend its review of the license application for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in their state.
From Aug. 20 through Wednesday, the federal regulator conducted four webinars on its draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for Holtec International’s planned consolidated interim storage facility in Lea County. That followed two online meetings earlier this summer, and replaced plans for in-person events in New Mexico due to the current health crisis.
In an Aug. 18 letter to NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki, Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich (both D-N.M.), noted that the agency had previously committed to five public meetings around the state on the draft EIS. Given the “profound health and safety impacts” of the Holtec project, time must be given for the public to understand the matter at hand and provide input on the environmental document, they wrote.
“We appreciate that the COVID-19 pandemic has created logistical and health concerns of its own to be able to move forward with in-person meetings at this time, but there are no legal or statutory deadlines requiring the Commission to rush to complete this review by any certain time,” according to the letter, first reporters by the Carlsbad Current-Argus. “Therefore, we believe the best course of action is to pause the process until such time as it is safe to resume.”
On Wednesday, an NRC spokesman said only that the agency would respond to the letter through its normal process.
Holtec International, an energy technology company headquartered in Camden. N.J., in March 2017 applied for a 40-year NRC license for storage of up to 8,680 metric tons of used fuel from nuclear power plants. Ultimately, the facility could hold in excess of 100,000 metric tons of material for 120 years. A separate corporate team, Interim Storage Partners, has applied for a federal license for a site in West Texas with a 40,000-metric-ton capacity.
Earlier this year, NRC staff issued draft reports that found both facilities would have minimal environmental impacts and should be licensed. The final versions are due to be issued next spring, followed by agency rulings on the applications.
