Nuclear waste storage evaluation put on hold
Dept. of Energy was considering sites in Quay and Otero counties
The U.S. Department of Energy has canceled a project to evaluate storing nuclear waste in vertical underground boreholes that targeted two New Mexico counties.
DOE said this week it is abandoning the Deep Borehole Field Test project because of changes in budget priorities.
The research project was supposed to test whether nuclear waste can be buried in 3-miledeep holes. The research project wasn’t going to involve actual nuclear waste, DOE officials have said. The agency was looking at sites in Quay and Otero counties, as well as two other locations in South Dakota and Texas.
“Due to changes in budget priorities, the Department of Energy does not intend to continue supporting the Deep Borehole Field Test project,” the agency said in a note to members of Congress. “The contractor teams will continue to engage in public communications with the communities they had sought to partner with in order to answer questions as the project winds down, but all other work related to the project will cease immediately.”
The project stoked hot debates in Otero and Quay counties.
In Otero, Alamogordo residents had packed recent County Commission meetings to oppose the project on the grounds that it would test a location in the Salt Basin that is also home to a freshwater aquifer.
Other residents supported the project for the jobs and money it could have brought to the county, as well as the need to find final disposal sites for nuclear waste piled up at the nation’s energy laboratories.
TerranearPMC was one of four contractors tasked with drumming up local support and determining the feasibility of a project in Otero County. In Quay, the contractors were ENERCON Federal Services and DOSECC Exploration Services.
“Would it have been nice to see this move forward? Yes, we’re all hoping for long-term solutions to our nuclear waste problem,” said Kathryn Roberts, a spokeswoman for Terranear. “But in the grand scheme of things, it’s not going to hurt Terranear.”
Otero County Commissioner Janet White, who opposed the borehole project, said that local concerns stemmed from the site’s location above an aquifer.
“Water is so precious and hard to come by that a lot of the resistance came from … not wanting to take chances with an aquifer,” she said. “It is a huge relief that that won’t be messed with for the time being. We’re going to remain vigilant in Otero County.”
Members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation weighed in on DOE’s decision.
“New Mexico is a national leader in nuclear energy research, development, and disposal,” said Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican representing southern New Mexico. “We should always consider projects that promote our economic development and growth. At the same time, it is essential any potential project includes input from surrounding communities affected by these kinds of decisions.”
Democratic Sen. Tom Udall said the agency made “the right decision.”
“The Department of Energy had made clear in writing that it wouldn’t move forward to phase two of this project without express support from the local governments — and communities in New Mexico and the other locations had raised significant concerns,” he said in an email to the Journal. “So I believe DOE has made the right decision.”