A nuclear technology company looking to store spent nuclear fuel rods in the Permian Basin, along the Texas-New Mexico state line, appealed in U.S. Supreme Court a decision last year to vacate its license to do so, hoping to bring the waste from privately-owned reactors around the country.
A fight to prevent high-level radioactive waste at a site near Andrews may be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Following a ruling in favor of Texas over the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, high-level nuclear waste won't be stored in Andrews. West Texans can have peace of mind.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated Holtec International’s license to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel near the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in southeastern New Mexico.
Following a ruling in favor of Texas over the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, high-level nuclear waste won't be stored in Andrews. West Texans can have peace of mind.
A nuclear technology company looking to store spent nuclear fuel rods in the Permian Basin, along the Texas-New Mexico state line, appealed in U.S. Supreme Court a decision last year to vacate its license to do so, hoping to bring the waste from privately-owned reactors around the country.
A fight to prevent high-level radioactive waste at a site near Andrews may be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Following a ruling in favor of Texas over the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, high-level nuclear waste won't be stored in Andrews. West Texans can have peace of mind.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated Holtec International’s license to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel near the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in southeastern New Mexico.
Following a ruling in favor of Texas over the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, high-level nuclear waste won't be stored in Andrews. West Texans can have peace of mind.
Top Democrat officials in New Mexico can agree with Texas Republicans on some things, and recently, the opposition to high-level nuclear waste storage in the two states has united members of both parties. Leaders in New Mexico are in agreement with Texas that the interim storage of high-level nuclear waste is illegal and a federal government overreach.
Congressman August Pfluger spoke with Odessa’s CBS 7 News about the recent Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision to license a high-level nuclear waste dump site in Andrews, Texas. The site, owned by Waste Control Specialists and Orano, is operated by Interim Storage Partners.
The federal government issued their license to Interim Storage Partners despite local residents’ concern and majority disapproval of the project. Once a favored issue in Texas, now has become opposed by many. One small leak could contaminate the Permian Basin oil industry. SNF stays radioactive for hundreds of millions of years.
Though Texas politicians are using this drama as a way to attack federal elected officials, the history of the issue is a bipartisan mess that can be blamed on members of both parties. Regardless, the fight between Texans and the federal agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is being watched by those in the energy sector across America.
“Stubbornly continuing your [ISP & Holtec] current projects will impose significant damage to the future of nuclear energy in the United States. Since both of you have major business interests in this industry, you will be damaging existing and future profit centers within your enterprises for the sake of individual projects with uncertain profit potential.”
“Because of the many risks associated with these projects, the lack of a permanent storage facility, and the importance of the Permian Basin to the economy and energy security of the country, I respectfully urge you to join me in opposing the siting of an interim storage facility in Texas or in New Mexico.”
In the statement that NRC published, Holtec has “exclusive mineral rights” to the site area, but the mineral estate is leased to XTO Energy through the State of New Mexico. Holtec seeks to use the surface but that is in conflict with the oil and gas production needs and rights of XTO Energy.
In an opposition letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham expressed major concerns with the proposed nuclear waste site in Lea County. The NRC recommended the site even though their preliminary research did not take into account several key issues. The geological makeup of the area is not suitable for spent nuclear fuel to be stored.
Southeastern New Mexico is a leading force of the state’s agricultural production. Lea and Eddy Counties, where the proposed Holtec CISF site is located, produces $300 million of New Mexico’s agricultural industry every year. In an opposition letter sent to the U.S. Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Committee, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham makes clear that this proposed site for nuclear waste is a terrible idea for the region.
This year the region is expected to generate an average of 3.9 million barrels per day, roughly a third of total U.S. oil production, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. That’s enough to make the U.S., as of late 2018, the world’s largest producer of crude. The windfall has turned a nation long reliant on foreign oil into a net exporter in a few short years.
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