The Democratic Party’s candidate for the congressional seat representing Texas’ 11th District this week emphasized his opposition to interim storage of radioactive spent nuclear fuel in the region.
“One thing I’m particularly concerned about is the plan … to bring in highly radioactive nuclear waste from 100 nuclear power plants across the country, to store it in District 11,” San Angelo attorney Jon Mark Hogg said in an interview Sunday with KVUE, an ABC affiliate.
Hogg is running against Republican August Pfluger for the seat being vacated by Rep. Mike Conaway (R) after 16 years.
The candidate was referring to plans by Interim Storage Partners for an above-ground facility in Andrews County, along the Texas-New Mexico border, capable of storing up to 40,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel. The company, a joint venture of Waste Control Specialists and Orano, hopes next year to secure a 40-year federal license covering the first 5,000 tons. The facility would be built on Waste Control Specialists’ disposal property.
In an interview Tuesday with RadWaste Monitor, Hogg said his opposition to the project was built on conversations with district residents, attendance at public meetings on the project, and reviews of key documents for the license application.
Hogg said locals have told him of their concerns about the safety and security of the material while it is being transported and then stored. He questioned the capacity of the U.S. rail system to handle transport of tens of thousands of tons of material over a period of years, through densely populated regions such as Dallas-Fort Worth.
Highly radioactive material stored above-ground could also be a tempting target for terrorists, Hogg said. He noted opposition to the facility from companies that extract oil and gas from the regional Permian Basin.
The concerns are particularly acute given the absence of the congressionally mandated federal repository for used fuel and high-level radioactive waste, raising fears that interim storage could stretch on indefinitely.
“There is no permanent plan,” Hogg said by telephone. “There is no overarching policy.”
Supporters of the Texas project – and an even larger storage facility planned by Holtec International in neighboring New Mexico – point to the safety record of radioactive waste transport.
“Since 1965, more than 2,700 shipments of used fuel have been safely transported nearly 2 million miles across the United States – and there has never been a radiological release caused by a transportation accident,” Interim Storage Partners says on its website. “Globally, more than 200 casks are transported every year, with a total of nearly 10,000 used fuel casks having been delivered.”
The on-site storage system will be hardened against earthquakes or acts of terrorism, with enhanced security in place, according to the joint venture.
The 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act directed the Department of Energy to begin disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste by Jan. 31, 1998. Congress amended the law five years later to designate Yucca Mountain, Nev., as the location of the geologic repository for the waste. However, federal licensing of the facility has been defunded for more than a decade.
Hogg’s campaign website notes that “Yucca Mountain now seems to be off the table, especially during a presidential election year.” President Donald Trump proposed funding to resume licensing in three consecutive federal budget proposals, for fiscal years 2018 to 2020, but never got the money from Congress. For the upcoming fiscal 2021, though, the White House sought $27.5 million at the Energy Department for early work on interim storage program.
The presidential and congressional elections are scheduled for Nov. 3.
While the Interim Storage Partners and Holtec facilities could provide the interim storage the federal government is looking for, the Energy Department has appeared hesitant about working directly with the companies.
The 11th District covers a chunk of central and western Texas. It has about 700,000 residents, fully encompassing Andrews, Brown, Callahan, Coke, Coleman, Comanche, Concho, Dawson, Eastland, Ector, Glasscock, Hood, Irion, Kimble, Llano, Martin, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Midland, Mills, Mitchell, Palo Pinto, Runnels, San Saba, Sterling, and Tom Green counties, along with sections of Erath and Stephens counties, according to Ballotpedia..
Conaway, Pfluger, and other GOP officials in the district have supported the Texas storage project, according to Hogg. He said the federal government should instead be looking for a viable long-term solution – possibly involving recycling of spent fuel.
An Air Force veteran, Pfluger served on the staff of the National Security Council under President Donald Trump before returning to Texas. His campaign did not respond to a query Tuesday.
Conaway has backed interim storage as a means to address the nation’s nuclear waste impasse. His Interim Consolidated Storage Act of 2015 would have authorized use of the federal Nuclear Waste Fund to pay for Department of Energy contracts for consolidated interim storage of high-level waste and used fuel. That bill drew 33 co-sponsors but never got out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
A similar bill filed in 2017 with then-Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), died in the same committee.
Conaway more than handily won his last race, in November 2018, taking 80.1% of 220,377 votes cast, according to Ballotpedia.
Texas Commission Approves Updated Financial Assurance Figure for Waste Control Specialists
Separately, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on Wednesday approved the latest financial assurance cost estimate for closure and post-closure activities for radioactive waste facilities operated by Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County.
The three commissioners spent only a couple minutes discussing the matter before their unanimous vote, and asked no questions of TCEQ staff.
The commission is the state regulator for the company’s operation, which starting encompasses four separate facilities for radioactive and hazardous wastes, along with treatment and storage services. The facility opened for business in 2012.
Under its state license, Waste Control Specialists must provide financial assurance to cover the projected cost of certain closure and post-closure operations by a third party. The amount is updated annually, at least to account for inflation.
The total financial assurance amount as of Feb. 26 of this year was $115.5 million, in 2018 dollars, divided between Waste Control Specialists’ low-level radioactive waste disposal facility and its low-level radioactive waste treatment, storage, and processing facility.
The cost estimate for the disposal facility is broken down into three components: closure, at $46.7 million; post-closure monitoring, at $25 million; and corrective action, at $21.9 million. The treatment facility requires only financial assurance for closure costs, estimated now at $21.9 million.
The financial assurance is provided by bonds from three insurance companies, according to a memo from TCEQ staff.
Closure operations, under state regulations, involve any mix of dismantlement, decontamination, decommissioning, reclamation, disposal, aquifer restoration, stabilization, monitoring, or observation or maintenance.
Post-closure operations can involve “an environmental monitoring program at the disposal site, periodic surveillance, minor custodial care, and other requirements as determined by the commission or executive director, and administration of funds to cover the costs for these activities,” according to state regulations.
Corrective action means dealing with unanticipated developments that could threaten public health and safety or the environment after the facilities are decommissioned and closed.
