NM tribal group opposes spent fuel storage facilities

The All Pueblo Council of Governors is opposing plans that call for storing tons of spent nuclear fuel from power plants around the U.S. in proposed sites in southeast New Mexico and West Texas.

The council -- representing 20 sovereign pueblo nations -- in a resolution adopted late last week said it is worried about risks associated with transporting the waste from commercial reactors in numerous states to the planned facilities.

Council Chairman E. Paul Torres said in a statement that the projects lack meaningful consultation with tribes and would subject “our communities, environment and sacred sites to unimaginable risk over many decades.”

Elected leaders in communities closest to the planned New Mexico facility are in favor of building the multibillion-dollar complex, saying it would bring jobs and revenues to Eddy and Lea counties.

New Jersey-based Holtec International is seeking a 40-year license from federal regulators to build what it has described as a state-of-the-art complex near Carlsbad that could house about 120,000 metric tons of used fuel.

Holtec has said the site in New Mexico is remote and geologically stable. The company also has said the four-layer casks that would hold the spent fuel would be made of thick steel and lead and transported on a designated train with guards and guns.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, members of the congressional delegation and environmentalists already have come out against the plans.

Holtec expects the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to decide on the license in 2021.