The New Mexico chapter of a prominent environmental group voiced its opposition over the weekend to Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff’s recent recommendation that the commission license a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the state.
The Sierra Club’s Rio Grande chapter joins New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) in her fight against Holtec International’s proposed interim storage facility, the group said in a statement published Saturday by the Los Alamos Daily Post.
NRC staff in a July 13 environmental impact statement said that the agency should grant a license to Holtec’s proposed interim storage project, planned for Eddy County, N.M.
Sierra Club Rio Grande “is already working with legislators to secure firm support for voting for legislation to ban the issuance of any state permit until there is a permanent disposal site in conformance with federal law,” the group said in Saturday’s statement.
Gov. Lujan Grisham last week accused NRC of “choosing profit over public interest” and said she would support an effort in the state legislature in Santa Fe to block the proposed site. State lawmakers proposed bills to do just that during New Mexico’s last two state legislative sessions, but neither measure reached the governor’s desk.
Meanwhile, NRC has said that it could wrap up the licensing process for the proposed Holtec site by early 2023.
If it gets built, Holtec has said that its interim storage site would initially be able to store around 8,700 tons of spent nuclear fuel in 500 canisters. That capacity could be increased by 10,000 canisters in future license amendments.
