While the Eddy Lea Energy Alliance announced yesterday its intentions to move forward with Holtec International to construct a spent nuclear fuel interim storage facility in southeastern New Mexico, a major obstacle in the form of a New Mexico U.S. senator could prevent the project from getting started. The ELEA announced yesterday that the group had entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with Holtec to construct an interim storage facility. Under the terms of the agreement, the ELEA will provide the land and local logistics support including existing environmental characterization data while Holtec will design the facility, perform all necessary safety evaluations, secure Nuclear Regulatory Commission approvals, and build and operate the facility. According to Holtec President and CEO Kris Singh, the company plans on submitting the necessary paperwork to the NRC for review within a year, although details like the business plan between the two groups and DOE’s involvement with the facility are still to be determined. ELEA Chairman John Heaton said the NRC review would take a minimum of three years and “many millions” to complete. Heaton also said that this announcement was the first step to helping solve a national problem.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), though, said in a statement yesterday in response to the announcement that he could not support the interim storage proposal until the federal government establishes a final disposal pathway for the spent fuel. “Southeastern New Mexico should be commended for its leadership in the nuclear industry, including being home to WIPP, which is the nation’s only deep geologic repository for transuranic nuclear weapons waste and an integral part of the environmental clean-up of Cold War programs at Department of Energy defense sites,” Heinrich said. “But we can’t put the cart before the horse. I cannot support establishing an interim storage facility until we are sure there will be a path forward to permanent disposal. There must be an open and transparent process that allows for input on what’s best for our entire state.”
The group, though, does have the consent of key government officials within both the surrounding community and the state government. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) backed the ELEA’s proposal to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, according to a letter she sent him earlier this month, and Carlsbad, Hobbs, Lea County, and Eddie County have all passed resolutions in favor of interim storage. But, according to Heaton, the group will continue to push for more consensus within the state. “This is just the beginning of this project,” Heaton said. He added, “We will be spending a considerable amount of time as the Eddy Lea Alliance in partnership with Holtec in terms of educating the population of New Mexico in as many ways as we can and know how to. We feel that is a strong obligation of us: that the folks in New Mexico know exactly what we are doing and how we are doing it. So, we will be out on the road going town to town and working with the governor and the legislature and others that want to be heard on this project.”
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