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US-based Holtec International has received the final licence from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for construction and operation of a facility in Lea County, southeast New Mexico, that will temporarily store nuclear waste from NPPs across the USA. The HI-STORE Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF). It will be built on land provided by the Eddy Lea Energy Alliance (ELEA), a regional economic development authority in Southeast New Mexico. Holtec said this was “the culmination of an eight-year process” of an “inherently safe below-ground storage system called the HI-STORM UMAX”.

NRC issued the licence despite a backlash from the state of New Mexico, including the passage of a new law that attempted to block the facility by requiring a federal permanent repository to be in operation before any nuclear waste can be stored.

NRC said the licence “authorises the company to receive, possess, transfer and store 500 canisters holding approximately 8,680 metric tons of commercial spent nuclear fuel for 40 years”. Holtec plans to eventually store up to 10,000 canisters in an additional 19 phases. NRC said each expansion phase would require a licence amendment with additional NRC safety and environmental reviews. The used fuel “must be stored in canisters and cask systems certified by the NRC as meeting standards for protection against leakage, radiation dose rates, and criticality under normal and accident conditions”. NRC specified that the canisters are required to be sealed prior to arrival at the facility. “They will be inspected upon arrival and will remain sealed during onsite handling and storage activities.”

NRC’s review of the licence application included a technical safety and security review, an environmental impact review and adjudication before an Atomic Safety & Licensing Board. A safety evaluation report, documenting the technical review, was issued along with the licence. This followed a final environmental impact statement (EIS) published in July 2022 and supplemented the following October. The final EIS notes the absence of any environmental impacts that would preclude a licence for HI-STORE. It also confirmed that there are no adverse impacts to other enterprises in the area including oil and gas, potash, ranching, and farming.

NRC’s recommendation was based on its review of Holtec’s licence application; consultation with Federal, State, Tribal and local agencies; input from other stakeholders; independent consultation with the New Mexico Bureau of Land Management; and NRC’s own environmental review. NRC’s review covered land use, transportation, geology and soils, surface and groundwater, ecological resources such as threatened and endangered species, noise, historical and cultural resources, public and occupational health, environmental justice, socio-economics and other considerations.

Holtec said the HI-STORE facility is the first in the world to deploy a below-ground storage system for consolidated interim storage.

“We thank the nuclear-savvy communities of the Southeast New Mexico region and their visionary leaders who have welcomed us to bring our technologies to create environmentally benign and well-paying jobs, and help diversify the region’s economy thus fostering a stable industrial base,” said Holtec President & CEO, Dr Kris Singh.

Holtec’s expected contribution to the community includes additional economic development opportunities, including a state-of-the art manufacturing facility, a technology development centre and a global workforce training centre.

Program Director for the HI-STORE CISF, US Navy Captain (retired) Ed Mayer stated, “Thanks to the local support, we have persevered for the past eight years to license HI-STORE in spite of variable enthusiasm from the State’s authorities. The project has the ability to allow Southeast New Mexico to diversify its economy, generate some 400 jobs, infusing some $3bn of investment in the area. Holtec and ELEA are proud to have worked together to eliminate the most formidable barrier to the renaissance of nuclear energy that our country faces today.”

However local protests continue. In the 2023 legislative session, New Mexico passed Senate Bill 53, which should be in effect on 15 June. The law increased a state oversight board and bans state agencies from granting permits, contracts or leases for building a high-level nuclear waste storage facility. This would include New Mexico Department of Transportation and New Mexico Environment permits needed for construction and operations.

The new law prevents the local governments in the region, not just state agencies, from approving contracts or leases for the facility – which is within the state’s authority, according to the bill’s sponsor Senator Jeff Steinborn. He said in a statement that NRC’s decision to issue the licence illustrates why the new law is so important. “It’s time that our voice be heard and honoured, and that this project be shut down,” he said.

State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard said in a press statement: “This is a bad idea, full stop. Placing a nuclear storage facility in the heart of oil and gas operations is a recipe for ecological disaster and unnecessarily puts New Mexicans at risk.” She added that “unelected bureaucrats in Washington” should not be able to “jam through this shaky proposal that will bring massive profits to an out-of-state company with a troubled safety record, while putting our people and environment in harm’s way…. Bottom line, the world’s most active oil and gas producing field is not the right place for a long-term nuclear waste storage site.” There are some 2,500 oil, gas or mineral extraction sites operated by 54 different entities within 10 miles of the site where Holtec plans to build the facility.

Senator Martin Heinrich, who serves on the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, said NRC “used ‘interim’ standards to approve indefinite nuclear storage in New Mexico.” He added: “No matter how many times NRC and Holtec use the word ‘interim,’ it doesn’t make it so. And the people left to pay the consequences will be New Mexicans. Until there is a permanent repository for our nation’s spent nuclear fuel, no regulatory commission should be using ‘interim’ standards to approve ‘indefinite’ storage. New Mexicans didn’t sign up for this.”

In addition to the new law, there are two lawsuits pending before federal court that aim to block planned consolidated interim storage facilities. These include Holtec’s proposed facility in New Mexico as well as another in Texas that received a licence in 2021. The lawsuits have been pending before the courts for years citing concerns over transportation of the nuclear materials. “Transporting highly radioactive waste is inherently high-risk,” Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste specialist with Beyond Nuclear, said in a press release. “Fully loaded irradiated nuclear fuel containers would be among the very heaviest loads on the roads, rails, and waterways.… Even if our nation’s infrastructure gets renovated someday, the shipping containers themselves will remain vulnerable to severe accidents and terrorist attacks.”

Image: Artist’s rendering of Holtec’s HI-STORE CIS Facility for spent nuclear fuel (courtesy of Holtec)

Date: Friday, 12 May 2023
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsholtec-receives-approval-for-used-fuel-facility-10839037