The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Nov. 6 issued its first request for additional information for Interim Storage Partners’ license application for a temporary spent nuclear reactor fuel storage facility in West Texas.
The request covers 28 distinct questions regarding physical security at the planned installation on Waste Control Specialists’ property in Andrews County. The actual questions are not being released because they address sensitive security issues, an NRC spokesman said Tuesday.
“The enclosed RAIs only address the physical security portions of the application. Additional RAIs may be issued in the future as the staff’s detailed review progresses,” according to the letter, from NRC Spent Fuel Licensing Branch senior project manager John-Chau Nguyen to Interim Storage Partners Chief Financial Officer Elicia Sanchez, posted Tuesday to the NRC website.
The company should submit its responses within 60 days of receiving the letter, Nguyen wrote.
Interim Storage Partners is a joint venture of Waste Control Specialists and the U.S. branch of French nuclear firm Orano. In June, it filed an updated version of the license application that had been previously submitted in 2016 by Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists. It is seeking a 40-year license for 5,000 metric tons of used fuel, though the total capacity for the facility is planned at up to 40,000 tons.
The NRC began its full technical review of the application in August, covering safety, security, and environmental aspects of the project. Interim Storage Partners hopes to receive the license by 2021 or 2022.
Tuesday was the deadline for parties to file requests with the NRC for a hearing and intervention in the license review.
The NRC has already issued several requests for additional information as part of a separate review of a license application from Holtec International for a spent fuel storage operation in southeastern New Mexico with an anticipated maximum capacity of 173,000 metric tons.
