The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is drawing up more questions about Holtec International’s proposed interim storage facility in New Mexico, an agency spokesperson said this week.
NRC staff are “still preparing” the agency’s third round of Requests for Additional Information (RAIs) for Holtec’s proposed interim storage site in Eddy County, N.M., a spokesperson told RadWaste Monitor via email Monday.
The commission in November told Holtec that it would not be able to complete a required safety review, spelling delay for a final decision on the site’s license, once targeted for January. That was the second time NRC announced a delay. The first time was in March, for similar reasons, NRC said.
Until the commission sends out its third set of RAIs and receives Holtec’s schedule for responding to them, it won’t update its own schedule for reviewing the license application, the spokesperson said Monday.
“The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing process is rigorous, thorough and transparent to ensure the protection of public health and safety and the protection of the environment,” a spokesperson for Holtec said in an emailed statement Monday. “Holtec will provide the additional information requested by the NRC that will confirm the large margins of safety that are inherent in the design of the HI-STORM UMAX system and the HI-STORE CISF facility.”
If it gets a federal license, Holtec plans to build its New Mexico interim storage facility just a few miles west of Andrews County, Texas, where a similar site owned by an Orano-Waste Control Specialists joint venture, Interim Storage Partners (ISP), got the green light from NRC in September.
As the administrative foot-tapping continues, NRC is facing a phalanx of legal challenges from states and stakeholders over both the proposed Holtec and ISP sites, which agency chairman Christopher Hanson told RadWaste Monitor in November is keeping commission lawyers and the Department of Justice busy.
