The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday licensed Holtec International to operate a consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in New Mexico, agency documents show.
The proposed facility, which Jupiter, Fla.-based Holtec calls HI-STORE, may receive 8,680 metric tons of uranium, the equivalent of 500 canisters, “in the form of undamaged fuel assemblies, damaged fuel assemblies, and fuel debris,” according to the materials license the NRC issued on Tuesday.
The license expires May 9, 2063. NRC posted the license, and supporting documents, online.
Holtec has proposed building its HI-STORE facility in southeastern New Mexico between Eddy County and Lea County. The company faces stiff headwinds from the state government there, which earlier this year outlawed storage of spent nuclear fuel anywhere in the Land of Enchantment.
Holtec has said the HI-STORE facility could be upgraded to house as many as 10,000 canisters. The company would need a license amendment from NRC to expand.
A Holtec spokesperson reached Tuesday said the company had yet to decide when it would break ground on the HI-STORE facility or when the facility would be ready to receive its first shipment of spent nuclear fuel.
“What a path forward and timeline looks like is still to be determined,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “Our invitation to join the project over 8 years ago and the strong local support in the counties of Eddy and Lea solidify our belief that the project is still viable.”
A spokesperson for New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), reached Tuesday by email, did not comment.
Holtec is the second company to get a license for consolidated interim storage in the last two years. In September 2021, Interim Storage Partners, a joint venture of Waste Control Specialists and Orano USA, got a license to build a spent fuel depot in west Texas.
Like New Mexico, Texas has banned storage of spent fuel within its borders.
As of Tuesday afternoon, neither Holtec nor Interim Storage Partners had challenged the legality of the state laws in a federal court.
Editor’s note, May 10, 2023, 9:08 a.m. Eastern time. The story was updated to add comment from Holtec.
