Antinuclear

Members of the public were invited to request adjudicatory hearings from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regarding a proposed facility that would store thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel rods near Carlsbad and Hobbs.

Requests must be filed by the Sept. 14 deadline, read a Wednesday news release from the NRC.

The notice was published in the Federal Register on Monday, providing guidelines on how to petition for a hearing, and the requirements of applicants.

Once received, the commission will review the petition, and determine if a hearing should be set………

Aside from concern residents or activist groups, state or local governments and federally-recognized Native American tribes are eligible to request hearings or to be part to a hearing. ……….

Holtec international proposed building a surface-level facility near the Eddy-Lea county line to hold temporarily hold spent nuclear fuel rods while a permanent repository is developed.

The only proposed permanent storage space was at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, but that facility stalled in recent years due to opposition from state lawmakers and federal funding cuts.

Holtec first submitted its license application to the NRC in March 2017, and it was accepted one year later.

The NRC’s public scoping period, when it gathers public opinions from impact communities to develop an environmental impact statement (EIS), was scheduled to end on July 30. The acceptance sparked a debate between activists in opposition, local governments and Holtec officials.

Many worried the site could become permanent, with a capacity to hold up to 120,000 metric tons of the waste beneath southeast New Mexico indefinitely.

Supporters insisted the facility would remain an “interim” storage site needed to move the waste away from generator sites near densely populated areas and large bodies of water.  ………https://www.currentargus.com/story/news/local/2018/07/20/public-can-request-federal-hearings-holtec-proposal-nuclear-storage/802579002/