A recent U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit ruling may prove to be the icing on the cake that stops Holtec International from building and operating a high level nuclear waste storage facility between Hobbs and Carlsbad. The high court recently ruled that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) lacks the authority to “issue licenses for private parties to store spent nuclear fuel away-from-the-reactor.”
Earlier this year in May, the NRC granted Florida-based, privately owned Holtec International a 40-year “temporary” license to build and operate a Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) in southeastern New Mexico to store “nuclear waste from power plants the company is decommissioning in states from New Jersey to California,” states an article posted at NewMexicoPBS.org. Holtec’s CISF would have the capacity to store 100,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel in 500 canisters.
However, during its 2023 regular session the New Mexico State Legislature passed Senate Bill 53 (SB53) that was quickly signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Effective in June the new law prohibits “…state agencies from issuing permits, contracts or leases for the facility unless the state approves the facility or the federal government moves forward with a permanent storage spot for the nation’s commercial nuclear waste.”
Plans for a Permanent Site
To date, the federal government after abandoning its Yucca Mountain, Nevada project, has no specific plans for the development of a permanent nuclear waste disposal site. The sponsor of SB53, State Rep. Jeff Stienborn (D – Dist. 36), said that New Mexico’s new law is “the first layer of protection” for the state against the storage of nuclear waste.
Steinborn faults the federal government for failing to develop a permanent nuclear waste storage site. He says, “The federal government needs to take full ownership of the challenge and not pass the buck.” rather than authorizing the NRC “to give a license to someone [Holtec] that wants to shove it [a nuclear waste storage site] down our [New Mexicans’] throats.”
Court of Appeals Decision Adds Clout
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision, although not centering on the Holtec project but instead on a proposed nuclear waste facility in west Texas, adds clout to New Mexico’s new law that blocks Holtec’s ability to move forward with its proposed CISF near Hobbs. State Rep. Stienborn says that the Court of Appeals finding may have “potentially precedent-setting ramifications”. According to Rep. Steinborn, the high court’s ruling “gives more power to local communities and states” regarding the storage of nuclear waste. “Our opinion does matter. Our rights do matter.” … “This could play out in the courts or in Congress,” he says. The matter “is too large of a decision to be made by an agency.”
Lea and Eddy County Leaders Support the Storage of Nuclear Waste in Southeastern New Mexico
John Heaton, Chair of the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance and former New Mexico State Representative (D – Dist. 55), sees the Holtec project as an asset to southeastern New Mexico in general and to Lea and Eddy counties specifically. Aware that all of New Mexico’s political leadership oppose the Holtec project and that in 2020 a coalition of 50 groups asked the NRC to suspend it, Heaton says that the concerns of these lawmakers and groups are not valid. Heaton feels that the opposition is simply too “scare people”. Heaton told Laura Paskus, New Mexico PBS’s Senior Producer of the program “Our Land”, that “risks are non-existent”.
When asked by Paskus to name individuals who support the Holtec project, Heaton called out Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb, Lea County Commissioner Greg Fulfer and Holtec’s registered lobbyist and former New Mexico Attorney General Gary King. Heaton also alluded to commissioners from bothLea and Eddy counties and city commission and council members from area communities as being supportive of the project. Heaton did not discuss the opinions, whether positive or negative, that everyday residents of Lea and Eddy counties are voicing about the project.
During his PBS interview Heaton noted that the Holtec project is a local issue, and that individuals from other parts of the state or from other parts of the nation should have no say about the project. He asks the question,“Why does somebody 400 miles away have anything to say about a project in southeastern New Mexico? And that’s the real issue. They have no standing in reality.” Heaton adds that Holtec’s storage facility is “a major need for the country.”
Rep. Stienborn disagrees. He told Paskus that the entire state, as well as the nation, will be impacted by the facility. As an example, Rep. Stienborn refers to the trains that will go through towns in New Mexico and nationwide carrying nuclear waste. He notes that Holtec has always said that should an accident occur the local community and the state will be vested with providing emergency response. “So that makes us all stakeholders and not just in New Mexico but across the whole country,” states Rep. Steinborn. “It’s so imperative that we have a national, real solution for dealing with this waste and not some company, profit driven solution that we all end up being impacted by.” Rep. Stienborn contends that the argument that “hey, this is our project” and that others have no “right” to question or have an opinion is an “insult”. “We are stakeholders, and we have a right to have an opinion.”
Rep. Steinborn goes on to say that he has not heard from even one of his constituents who favor the project and that people all over the state, including people in the southeastern part of the state, are voicing their opposition. Rep. Steinborn refers to the poll of over 1,000 New Mexicans that was taken before the 2023 state legislative session convened. “There was very little support,” he states.
It should be remembered that Holtec’s people live in Florida not in New Mexico and have a “shove it down our [New Mexicans] throat[s] mentality”, says Rep. Stienborn.
The simple truth is that 39 states have nuclear waste. Nationwide nuclear waste grows 2200 tons annually. For years New Mexico has had to deal with the nuclear waste storage issue. The federal government has no plans for a permanent facility but supports southeastern New Mexico’s housing of Holtec’s CISF for the next 40 years. State lawmakers on all levels oppose the project. Some area leaders see the project as positive growth and development for Lea and Eddy counties. Little has been voiced by local folk about whether they want nuclear waste stored in their backyard for the foreseeable future.
