World News | New Mexico chooses to veto over spent nuclear fuel debate

ALBUQUERQUE, March 18 (AP) — New Mexico’s governor signed legislation on Friday aimed at preventing spent nuclear fuel produced by U.S. commercial nuclear power plants from being shipped to the state, hours after the measure cleared its final legislative hurdle.

After lengthy debate, the New Mexico House of Representatives passed the bill in a 35-28 vote, and Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham immediately signed it. Five Democrats joined Republicans in opposing the measure, arguing that the measure would challenge the federal government’s longstanding authority on nuclear security and lead to new court challenges.

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The bill introduced by Democratic state Senator Jeff Steinborn of Las Cruces would affect a proposed multibillion-dollar facility in southeastern New Mexico that would have the capacity to temporarily store up to 8,680 metric tons of spent uranium fuel. Future expansions could make room for as many as 10,000 canisters of spent fuel over six decades.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission may soon announce a decision on whether to license the project led by Holtec International, which has spent an estimated $80 million over the past eight years on the approval process.

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Lujan Grisham and members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation strongly opposed the facility’s construction on the state’s border with Texas. Both states have sued the federal government over the issue, and Texas’ top elected officials have unsuccessfully tried to block permits for a similar facility in neighboring Andrews County.

If the New Mexico complex is licensed, it will still need a permit from the state Department of the Environment. This is where critics say the state can rely on the legislation and stop the project.

Rep. Gail Chasey (D-Albuquerque) argued that states with nuclear power plants have no incentive to find permanent solutions to disposing of spent fuel. As long as New Mexico is viewed as an option, the states have little to worry about the long-term impact, she said.

“The problem is that it’s a forever decision. We can’t decide, oh, let’s not do this again and take it away,” Chasey said. “So think about the fact that if it’s a good thing that’s profitable, the states that produce it will put it near their facilities.”

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, nuclear reactors across the country generate more than 2,000 metric tons of radioactive waste each year, much of which remains on site because there is nowhere else to put it.

Since the federal government has failed to build permanent storage, it reimburses utilities to store the fuel. The cost is expected to run into the tens of billions of dollars over the next decade, according to a review by independent government auditors.

The fuel is held in temporary storage in nearly three states, either enclosed in steel-lined concrete pools or reinforced concrete containers known as casks.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm spoke of revisiting recommendations made a decade ago by the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s nuclear future. In November, her agency issued a request for comments on a consent-based siting process to identify where to store commercial spent nuclear fuel.

Despite opposition from environmentalists, the Biden administration has pointed to nuclear power as crucial to achieving its goal of creating a carbon-free “electricity” sector by 2035.

Some lawmakers from southeastern New Mexico said local elected officials and residents would welcome the Holtec project, and visits to some current storage sites near the power plant indicated the barrels were safe.

They also touted the safety of moving the material to New Mexico by rail, saying there would be armed guards on the trains and that tests showed the barrels would not release radiation in the event of a derailment.

Republican Rep. Cathrynn Brown, whose district includes the proposed Holtec site, said the area already houses the federal government’s only underground repository for Cold War-era waste from nuclear research and bomb-making. It also has a uranium enrichment plant.

The legislation sends a message to companies, “Invest in all you want, and then we’ll pull the rug out from under you,” Brown said. “And I don’t think it’s fair.”

Still, other lawmakers have expressed concern about the project because it will be located in the Permian Basin, one of the world’s most productive oil fields. A large portion of New Mexico’s revenue comes from drilling. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)