Committee to hear plans for nuke storage site

The vice president of engineering for a company that wants to locate an interim storage facility for radioactive waste in Lea County is expected to update a legislative committee on the company’s plans Friday.

Stefan Anton, vice president of engineering and licensing for Holtec International, is scheduled to address the first meeting of the Interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee.

Holtec submitted an application to the

federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission about a year ago for what is called interim storage for spent nuclear fuel rods, which are currently mostly stored on-site at nuclear power plants because there is no permanent storage facility.

The plan is strongly supported by the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, a consortium that includes the cities of Carlsbad, Hobbs and two southeastern New Mexico counties. The project is opposed by environmental groups, including the Sierra Club’s Rio Grande Chapter in Albuquerque.

Holtec wants a 40-year license to temporarily store the fuel rods from about 90 commercial nuclear reactors nationwide — some currently operating and others being decommissioned. The rods would be contained in carbon steel vessels and buried.

As part of a lengthy process, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will conduct a safety technical analysis, an environmental assessment and produce an environmental impact statement.

The commission has extended the public comment period on the plan and now will take public comments until July 30; two additional public meetings also have been scheduled next week — one in Gallup and the other in Albuquerque.

Public meetings already have been held in Carlsbad, Hobbs and Roswell.