This Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) webpage provides an overview of the proposed Waste Control Specialists (WCS) / Interim Storage Partners project, a private effort to build a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel in Andrews County, Texas. It serves as a central hub for the project’s licensing documents, environmental reviews, and regulatory status.
The project involves storing high-level radioactive waste from commercial nuclear reactors in above-ground containers at an existing waste site in the Permian Basin region.
This page is not itself a law or approval. Instead, it documents how the NRC is using its authority under the Atomic Energy Act and federal regulations (10 C.F.R. Part 72) to review and potentially license the facility.
- It tracks the license application submitted in 2016, which triggered a formal federal review process.
- It links to required legal steps, including environmental impact review (NEPA), safety analysis, and public comment opportunities before any final decision.
- It reflects the NRC’s eventual license decision, in which the agency determined that the project could meet federal safety requirements.
However, the project’s legal status remains contested. Federal courts have ruled that the NRC may lack clear congressional authority to license private off-site storage of spent nuclear fuel, casting the approval into question.
