U.S. Sued By New Mexico Over Nuclear Waste Storage Plan

The State of New Mexico sued the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on March 26, 2021 over the federal government’s overstep of issuing a license to Holtec International in their plan to transport and store the nation’s high-level nuclear waste. The suit complains that the state commission that agreed to issue the license just caused the state of New Mexico imminent endangerment. 

New Mexico raised concerns that the commission ignored every single challenger to the Holtec International proposed plans. The nuclear commission that is being sued announced that the environmental quality report that Holtec needs to complete their license will be delayed. This delay is caused by further studies on soil settlement and groundwater contamination possibilities.

About 2,000 metric tons of nuclear waste are created every year in the United States according to the Department of Energy. Holtec claims that the nation needs their dump ground because there is no other solution. This isn’t true as the federal government promised that interim storage would be in conjunction with a permanent repository. Over six decades, Holtec plans on accepting 10,000 canisters of high-level nuclear waste. 

Leaders in the state oppose the plan to store high-level nuclear waste in New Mexico including Governor Grisham and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas.