Administration drops nuclear waste borehole test.

Two sites in New Mexico had been considered

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The U.S. Department of Energy is abandoning a test meant to determine whether nuclear waste can be buried far underground because of changes in budget priorities, the agency said Tuesday.

A spokeswoman said in a statement that the agency doesn’t intend to continue supporting the Deep Borehole Field Test project, which was meant to assess whether nuclear waste could be stored in about 3-mile-deep holes. Officials had stressed it wouldn’t involve the use of actual nuclear waste.

Federal energy officials said in December that companies were exploring potential sites in Quay and Otero counties in New Mexico as well as sites in South Dakota and Texas.

Just under $1 million was given to companies to begin the first stages of development, including permitting and gaining community support before drilling could begin. Each company had chosen private land for its test borehole site.

Only one company would have eventually carried out the field test.

Over the ensuing months, residents formed a coalition opposing plans for a borehole in Quay County, where a project was proposed just outside the tiny, rural community of Nara Visa. Residents held large forums around the area, gained hundreds of signatures on a petition, and the Quay County Commission passed a resolution opposing the project.

A project in Otero County drew mixed reactions.

Contractors for the Department of Energy said the project could bring in millions of dollars worth of economic stimulus and educational opportunities for local students, but many residents feared nuclear waste would ultimately be connected with the project and, in turn, create more harm than benefit.

The project’s contract dictated that after the project was completed, the borehole would have been permanently sealed and the land restored.

Local officials in North Dakota and South Dakota had previously rebuffed project organizers over nuclear waste concerns.

South Dakota U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem in a statement applauded the Energy Department’s move, saying that she and local community members were deeply concerned about doing testing in “our backyard” to see whether boreholes could store nuclear waste.

“I am grateful to the Trump administration for hearing the concerns raised by these communities and subsequently withdrawing consideration of this proposal,” Noem said.

U.S. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota said in a statement that he’s glad the Trump administration has decided to end the project in the wake of strong public opposition. A spokesman for Gov. Dennis Daugaard said in a statement that he didn’t object to the test as long as it wouldn’t have led to nuclear waste storage in South Dakota.

The proposed site in South Dakota was in Haakon County. Edward Briggs, chairman of the county commission, said he was neutral toward the project.

“They claimed that this thing was strictly a research hole,” said Briggs, who wasn’t fully convinced it wouldn’t have meant future nuclear waste storage. “Your gut instinct tells you that’s where it would probably lead to in 10-15 years.” Todd Kenner, CEO of RESPEC, a company pursuing the South Dakota site, said that the company is reaching out to local community leaders to inform them of the decision. The Trump administration on Tuesday sent Congress a federal spending plan that seeks $120 million to revive the mothballed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, which is hugely unpopular in Nevada and was largely stopped by the efforts of former Democratic Sen. Harry Reid. Waste from commercial reactors in the U.S. now is stored onsite at nuclear power plants. The waste generated from defense activities is kept at a few secure locations. The Santa Fe New Mexican contributed to this report.