Nevada is requesting that the Energy Department acquire written, consensual agreements from affected communities, including those in waste transport corridors, in order to move forward with developing consent-based sites for nuclear waste storage.
Penned by Robert Halstead, executive director for the state’s anti-Yucca Mountain Agency for Nuclear Projects, Friday’s letter to DOE suggests that the federal government follow Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) and Sen. Dean Heller’s (R-Nev.) lead in amending the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. The act will need to be amended or replaced in order for DOE to carry out its consent-based siting initiative, which is the Obama administration’s replacement for Yucca Mountain. The Nevada senators introduced legislation (S. 1825) in July 2015 that requires DOE to enter into agreements with any potential repository’s host state, contiguous local governments that will host transportation routes, and affected Indian tribes. The legislation and related bills remain under consideration in both chambers.
The department’s deadline for accepting public comment on its consent-based siting process closed Sunday. The initiative envisions operation of a pilot storage facility by 2021; one or more larger, interim spent fuel facilities by 2025; and at least one permanent geologic repository by 2048. Communities in West Texas and New Mexico have announced support for Waste Control Specialists and Holtec International to develop consolidated interim storage facilities in their respective states. A government affairs expert working helping WCS work through regulatory issues on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission application said last week that unanimous consent will not be required in corridor communities because transportation requirements are dictated by Department of Transportation regulations.
“If Yucca Mountain has taught us anything, it is that trying to force a repository on an unwilling state only gets the nation further away from a workable and safe solution to nuclear waste disposal,” Halstead wrote. “Nevada supports the development of a consent-based siting process for nuclear waste storage and disposal facilities, to find workable alternatives to Yucca Mountain.”
