Three administrative judges of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel have been selected to rule on requests for intervention in the agency’s review of a license application for a planned spent nuclear reactor fuel storage facility in Texas.
Interim Storage Partners, a joint venture of Orano and Waste Control Specialists, wants to build and operate a facility that would hold up to 40,000 metric tons of used fuel from commercial power plants until a permanent repository is ready. Several advocacy organizations filed requests for intervention and a hearing in the proceeding: Beyond Nuclear; the Sierra Club; regional oil and gas production concerns Permian Basin Land and Royalty Organization (PBLRO) and Fasken Land and Minerals; and a coalition of environmental and anti-nuclear groups led by Don’t Waste Michigan.
Administrative Judges Paul Ryerson, Nicholas Trikouros, and Gary Arnold will decide whether to approve the requests, according to a Nov. 23 notice in the Federal Register. Ryerson will chair the three-judge board.
On Friday, NRC staff said the Fasken-PBLRO group had shown standing to intervene in the licensing proceeding but that only one of five contentions against the Texas project should be ruled admissible. As of Monday afternoon, no similar NRC staff recommendation documents had been posted for the other intervention petitions.
The same three administrative judges comprise the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that is considering requests for intervention in Holtec International’s license application for a nearby facility in southeastern New Mexico that would hold up to 173,000 metric tons of spent fuel. Would-be intervenors in that proceeding include the groups seeking hearings in the Interim Storage Partners licensing, along with a couple other opponents and four regional municipalities that support the Holtec project.
