Federal budget talks could endanger Holtec nuclear waste site near Carlsbad
Congress’ ongoing budget negotiations could impact a nuclear waste storage project proposed near Carlsbad as policymakers at the federal and state levels opposed the project because of the perceived risks it posed to New Mexico.
Holtec International received a license last year to build and operate a storage site for spent nuclear fuel rods near the Eddy-Lea County line, after years of federal analysis.
The New Jersey-based company first applied for the license in 2017 with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) which later approved of the project and a similar proposal at the Waste Control Specialists site in Andrews, Texas along the New Mexico border.
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A group of local government and business leaders in the southeast region known as the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance collaborated with Holtec on the application, recruited the company and chose the location.
They hoped the project would diversify the economy of the oil-dependent region, but political leaders around the state opposed the project for purported risks both in the operation of the site and transporting the fuel rods to New Mexico from reactors around the country.
That took the form of a clause in an energy and water appropriations bill House Resolution 4394 passed by U.S. House of Representatives, prohibiting the use federal funds in any way for a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF), as proposed by Holtec, without expressed state consent.
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The bill was sent to the U.S. Senate in November 2023, but President Joe Biden signaled he would veto the Republican-led measure for reasons other than the nuclear waste language.
Similar wording was also included in a Senate appropriations bill, S. 2443 introduced in July 2023 being considered by that chamber, adding wording to require such a facility be federally owned unlike the private site Holtec proposed, and that states must consent to hosting.
Leaders demand 'state consent' in nuclear waste sites
The stance to require state consent was initially brought forth in a 2022 bill by U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), who said Friday he remained opposed to the concept of a consolidated interim storage facility without a permanent repository available.
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He’s made that argument in letters to Department of Energy, during a 2021 questioning of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and a 2023 public statement opposing the project along with the rest of New Mexico’s congressional delegation.
The CISFs were designed to hold the rods at the surface temporarily ahead of their ultimate shipment to a repository for disposal, or potential reprocessing.
Heinrich said storing them in New Mexico without a final plan for the rods’ disposition could risk the safety of New Mexicans.
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“I am opposed to the interim storage pilot program currently included in appropriations language,” he said. “Until there is a permanent repository for our nation’s spent nuclear fuel, we should never use ‘interim’ standards to approve what in effect become ‘indefinite’ storage.”
Similar opposition was also expressed by state elected officials like Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard and lawmakers in Santa Fe who last year passed Senate Bill 53 to block state permits needed for the project.
“I know the proposed Holtec facility is a convenient solution for other states looking to off-load their spent nuclear waste,” Heinrich said. “But that viewpoint undervalues the national significance of the Permian Basin and the potential impact of Holtec’s location on American energy security."
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John Heaton, chair of the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance said that the NRC’s approval of Holtec’s plan should be enough to allay concerns about the safety of consolidated storage.
He said anyone who disagrees is “uninformed.”
“That (CISF) has been established as a reasonable way to deal with spent fuel,” Heaton said. “It’s terrible in my mind how uninformed people that represent us are. The facility is the safest design in the world, as is the transportation. We all tend not to believe things we don’t understand.”
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Supporters argue nuclear waste storage could boost New Mexico economy
Heaton pointed to payments the U.S. government is presently making to utilities to continue holding spent fuel at the generator sites as part of a class-action lawsuit that meant billions in federal dollars flowing to the utilities.
That could total in more than $30.9 billion in federal liabilities remaining, according to a 2021 filing by Government Accountability Office, after the DOE already paid about $9 billion to utilities at the time of that report.
“Putting that language in there basically confounds the entire process of interim storage,” Heaton said. “And costs the taxpayer. When the DOE can take ownership of the waste, it stops the money flowing to the utilities.”
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Heaton also touted the local benefits he said the Holtec project would bring, including a $3 billion capital investment by the company in New Mexico, and 600 jobs, all at little risk based on findings from the NRC.
“The politicians have to back away and respect the technical expertise of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has been given authority by Congress to investigate nuclear projects,” he said.
But State Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-36) is unconvinced.
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He sponsored SB 53, the New Mexico bill intended to block the Holtec site, and said Congress’ inclusion of state consent requirements were needed to protect communities from the agendas of private industry.
“It continues this movement in the country to give more rights of consent to state, Tribes and communities,” Steinborn said. “It’s the right thing to do and I hope the language continues through Congress and to the President.”
Steinborn also argued nuclear waste storage sites should be federally owned, hoping that would increase safety priorities over profits.
“It’ll take Congress to figure out a repository solution,” he said. “It’s for Congress to decide a national solution. This is a massive hole the language will fill.”
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Federal budget talks could block Holtec nuke waste site near Carlsbad
