Antinuclear

LAS CRUCES – This city became the largest community in New Mexico to formally oppose a proposal to build a nuclear waste storage facility near Carlsbad when its city council on Monday approved a resolution opposing the transport and storage of high-level nuclear waste in the state.

Holtec International, a New Jersey-based company specializing in nuclear storage, has applied to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to construct a nuclear waste storage facility about 35 miles east of Carlsbad.

There is always a danger,” said City Councilor Yvonne Flores, who supported the resolution. “There’s always the potential for human error. There will be accidents. Poor little New Mexico — I feel like we always get dumped on.”

Albuquerque’s City Council and the Bernalillo County Commission have passed resolutions opposing the transportation of high-level nuclear waste through their jurisdictions in response to the proposal, but not construction of the nuclear storage facility.

City councils in two small towns near the proposed disposal site, Jal and Lake Arthur, have also passed resolutions opposing the project.

The facility would be on 1,000 acres in western Lea County, near the Eddy County line, on land owned by the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, an organization formed by the cities of Hobbs and Carlsbad and Eddy and Lea counties to pursue economic development opportunities.

The facility could eventually store up to 10,000 shipments of spent nuclear fuel, as much as 120,000 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste, from nuclear power plants around the country. It would be stored just below the surface.

The facility is intended to be a temporary storage site, storing nuclear waste only until a permanent storage facility can be built. But opponents fear that it could become permanent because plans for a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, have stalled because of opposition.

“This is not an interim site — this will be its permanent home,” State Senator Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, testified at Monday’s city council meeting. “It is Yucca Mountain. This issue demands a massive statewide conversation about whether we want to become Yucca Mountain.”

………. Mayor Ken Miyagishima told Heaton that while he appreciated his organization’s desire to increase economic development in Eddy and Lea counties, the project provided no benefits to people outside that area.

“There’s really no upside to Las Cruces,” Miyagishima said. “The downsides could be huge. (My interest) is the safety and welfare of Las Cruces residents.”

Blake Gumprecht may be reached at 575-541-5453, bgumprecht@lcsun-news.com or @blakegumprecht on Twitter.