TEXAS LAWMAKERS TO STUDY ECONOMIC IMPACT OF HOSTING HLW FACILITY

Texas state lawmakers are considering the logistics and economic impact of potentially hosting a high-level radioactive waste disposal site or interim storage facility, according to the Interim Committee Charges issued by Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus (R) late last week. The Charge also asked the Committee on Environmental Regulation to consider what actions need to be taken on a state and federal level for a facility to be built. “Study the rules, laws, and regulations pertaining to the disposal of high-level radioactive waste in Texas and determine the potential economic impact of permitting a facility in Texas,” Straus wrote. “Make specific recommendations on the state and federal actions necessary to permit a high-level radioactive waste disposal or interim storage facility in Texas.” The Interim Committee Charges is a document outlining the issues that should be studied during the upcoming year to prepare for legislation for the following year, so any tangible legislation action on a potential site would wait until 2015.

With the Department of Energy still mulling its contenders for the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus program, Oklahoma officials recently shared more details of its proposal as it pushes to be selected as a host state.

According to a September presentation, Oklahoma’s campus would consist of Oklo’s Aurora Powerhouse reactors, an isotope production facility, multiple fuel cycle facilities, including enrichment and recycling, and permanent disposal of waste with borehole technology.

The state expects its campus to have a combined surface footprint of at least 1,040 acres, with the subsurface footprint to range from 800 to 2,000 acres. The underground area would be be determined by the siting of the spent fuel management disposal facility.

Former Oklahoma State Energy Secretary Jeff Starling said during a Sept. 30 public meeting the nuclear campus would be more valuable to communities than a data center because the nuclear complex would place electricity on the grid and add 25,000 jobs to the state.

While all six of the contenders have volunteered to take on waste disposal in some capacity, Oklahoma has put waste disposal at the core of its proposal. A lot of drilling for oil and gas occurs in the state, and it says it plans to leverage that expertise, with the use of borehole technology, to permanently dispose of the spent fuel.

“We’re an energy state, we’re comfortable with energy,” Starling said in a Sept. 30 local news press conference. “When you look at borehole technology where you do long lateral drilling, that’s something we’ve done here and been a part of our energy solution for 25 years. We know how to drill a well down a mile and over a mile as best as anybody.”

Oklahoma hopes to be one of the three states selected to receive a campus and expects DOE to make a decision by the end of this year. DOE officials earlier said they expected to sign one to three hosting agreements by the end of September. However, nothing has been announced yet.

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