Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
2/6/2015
After a year of exploring the possibility of hosting an interim storage facility, Waste Control Specialists plans to announce next week at the National Press Club its intentions to develop the first consolidated interim storage facility in the nation, the company said this week. For the past year, WCS has been deciding if it wanted to move forward with the plan while taking the pulse of the local community in Andrews, Texas, on potentially moving forward on a facility, which culminated in a resolution passed last month by the Andrews County’s Board of Commissioners voicing the local government’s support for building an interim storage facility. The resolution marks a significant step forward for WCS’ ability to begin the process of building and licensing a consent-based interim storage facility, which is the Department of Energy’s preferred siting strategy. According to the resolution, WCS’ track record of public health and safety as well as the economic benefits from hosting such a facility gives the community a sense of comfort in moving forward. WCS could not be reached for comment by press time.
At the state level, former Gov. Rick Perry (R) and Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus (R) have both voiced their support for looking at the potential of hosting an interim storage facility. Straus has asked state lawmakers to begin considering the logistics and economic impact of potentially hosting a high-level radioactive waste disposal site or interim storage facility, and Perry charged the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality to prepare a report looking at the history of spent fuel disposal and lessons-learned from previous attempts.
A consent-based pilot consolidated storage facility is the preferred strategy of the Department of Energy to satisfy the nation’s spent fuel disposal needs, but due to language in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the Department cannot consider other sites beyond Yucca Mountain in Nevada without Congressional approval. In its Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request, released this week, the Department requested a reform that would enable it to move forward with its waste management strategy, but it remains to be seen whether that language will make it into the final bill.
