The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is again taking public comments on the scope of its environmental impact statement for a temporary spent nuclear fuel storage site proposed to be built in West Texas.
The agency in April 2017 suspended its review of the site license application, including the comment period, at the request of applicant Waste Control Specialists. The Dallas-based company this spring partnered with nuclear fuel cycle specialist Orano (previously AREVA) to revive the project, and in June asked the NRC to resume the license application evaluation.
More than 160 comments had been filed as of April 2017 during the initial input period.
Additional comments are due by Oct. 19. “Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this date,” the NRC said in a Federal Register notice.
The environmental impact statement is one aspect of the overall licensing review, which also covers safety and security matters.
The Waste Control Specialists-Orano venture, formally called Interim Storage Partners, plans to store up to 40,000 metric tons of used reactor fuel now stranded on-site at power plants around the country. It would remain at the WCS disposal site in Andrews County until the Department of Energy builds a permanent repository for the nation’s radioactive waste.
The NRC expects to complete the technical review for licensing in August 2020, after which the commission would rule on the application. Interim Storage Partners hopes that will happen no later than 2022.
The NRC is also reviewing the license application from Holtec International for a storage facility in southeastern New Mexico with planned capacity exceeding 100,000 metric tons of material. More than 6,500 comments were submitted during the regulator’s scoping process for the environmental impact statement on that project.
