The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has denied a request from a group of New Mexico lawmakers to extend its public comment period on the scope of its environmental review of Holtec International’s license application to build an interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the state.
In February, nine state senators and 21 state representatives asked the agency to extend the 60-day comment period into next year. They said the full New Mexico Legislature would not meet again until 2019, but that state agencies and legislative committees should have input into issues associated with the Holtec proposal, including potential water contamination and other contamination dangers, seismic concerns, and possible state liability.
The NRC responded with separate, identical letters to all of the legislators, dated March 23 and made public on Monday. In the letter, the agency said it has “an obligation to the public and the regulated community to make timely regulatory decisions.
“The NRC staff will not start its detailed technical review until all the comments from scoping have been reviewed and considered,” wrote Daniel Dorman, acting NRC deputy executive director for materials, waste, research, state, tribal, compliance, administration, and human capital programs. “Extending the scoping period until the close of your legislative session would cause a corresponding delay in our licensing review of more than one year and would not be commensurate with a timely regulatory decision-making process. Accordingly, the NRC staff has decided not to extend its scoping period per your request.”
New Jersey-based energy technology company Holtec is seeking a license for storage of up to 8,680 metric tons of spent reactor fuel in southeastern New Mexico. If approved, its facility could eventually store as much as 120,000 metric tons until the U.S. Energy Department builds a permanent repository for the radioactive waste. The NRC anticipates completing its technical review of the license application in 2020.
Dorman noted that there will be a number of opportunities for state input during the regulatory proceeding, including a series of meetings planned in coming weeks – three in southeastern New Mexico — on the scope of the environmental impact statement.
