The NRC, or Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is closer than ever to granting a license for the interim storage of high-level radioactive waste in Texas. The federal agency published the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in July. They must wait one month before finalizing the application process submitted by Interim Storage Partners.
Since the initial proposal stage, the NRC has ignored all of the safety, economic, and health concerns posed by numerous opposition groups: from oil companies to local ranchers to environmental organizations. It has been a similar scene in New Mexico with the Holtec International consolidated interim storage plans.
The majority of spent nuclear fuel is currently located near their reactor sites on the East Coast. Ironically, California officials are leading the fight to dump this waste in the Permian Basin because there is one decommissioned nuclear reactor site in particular they are focused on, San Onofre. Those outside of Texas and New Mexico see these two states as their dumping grounds.
The New Mexico General Attorney has filed suit with the NRC and Texas Governor Greg Abbott has formally opposed the plans in Texas. The federal government’s own legislation states that nuclear waste cannot be owned and transported by the feds until a permanent repository is built. Yet no site exists, and most likely won’t until the end of this century at the earliest. While American citizens foot the bill for this interim storage plan, the private companies, ISP and Holtec, will be making a profit off of it.
One solution is Hardened On Site Storage, or HOSS. This has been proposed for 20 years yet Congress has ignored this and continues to pursue a consolidated interim storage plan for spent nuclear fuel.
