An organization representing 20 Pueblo nations in New Mexico and Texas has formally voiced its opposition to plans for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel in the states.
During a meeting last week, the All Pueblo Council of Governors adopted a resolution against federal licensing for construction and operations of the facilities planned by Holtec International in Lea County, N.M., and Interim Storage Partners in Andrews County, Texas.
Both companies have applied for 40-year licenses from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to hold tens of thousands of metric tons of used fuel now stored on-site at nuclear power plants around the nation. With approval, they could begin accepting the radioactive waste in the early 2020s.
The sites could provide a means for the Department of Energy to meet its congressional mandate to remove the spent fuel from the power plants. The agency’s deadline to begin that process was Jan. 31, 1998, but it still does not have a permanent repository for the material.
“We are very concerned that this project, proposing the transport of nuclear material currently stored at 80 commercial reactors in 35 states across the country, lacks meaningful consultation afforded our Pueblos and subjects our communities, environment, and sacred sites to unimaginable risk over many decades,” All Pueblo Council of Governors Chairman E. Paul Torres said in a press release.
The resolution calls for “meaningful government-to-government” discussions between the Pueblo governments and federal regulators on waste transport, the release says. It also requests assistance on the matter from New Mexico’s congressional delegation.
The administration of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) has expressed direct opposition to the Holtec project, citing potential harm to the state’s energy and agricultural sectors. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has not staked out a clear stance on the Interim Storage Partners plan, but has questioned import of additional radioactive waste into the state.
