The draft environmental impact statements (EIS) for two planned consolidated interim storage sites for used fuel from nuclear power plants are due next spring, officials said last week during a meeting of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The environmental documents are central to the agency’s decision on whether to issue licenses for construction and operation of the facilities.
The draft EIS for Holtec International’s planned facility in southeastern New Mexico is expected to be issued in March, followed by a corresponding report on Interim Storage Partners’ proposed West Texas site in May, John McKirgan, chief the NRC’s Spent Fuel Licensing Branch, told the commissioners on Dec. 3.
Each draft EIS will be followed by a public comment period of 60 to 90 days, with meetings to be held in Hobbs, N.M., and Andrews County, Texas. The final version of the environmental impact statements would be expected roughly one year later — translating to March 2021 for the Holtec project and May 2021 for the ISP project, according to the NRC.
Issues to be considered in the documents include the potential danger of transporting the material to New Mexico and Texas from nuclear plants around the country; the potential for an accident in shipment or storage of the waste; the potential danger to groundwater at the sites; and the possibility that interim storage might become permanent storage if a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain never materializes.
Agency staff would also issue safety reports for each site ahead of the decisions on the companies’ respective license applications.
Interim Storage Partners — a joint venture by Waste Control Specialists of Texas and the American branch of France-base Orano — hopes to obtain an initial 40-year NRC license in 2021 or 2022 for its operation. The tentative construction completion date is 2023 or 2024, beginning with 5,000 metric tons of storage capacity. The site could ultimately hold 40,000 metric tons of capacity, potentially licensed for up to 120 years.
Meanwhile, Holtec International hopes by 2023 to open the initially licensed part of its used fuel facility, with underground-storage capacity for 8,680 metric tons between the cities of Hobbs and Carlsbad in New Mexico. Its total capacity could eventually exceed 100,000 metric tons.
