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- U.S. nuclear regulators licensed a multibillion-dollar complex Tuesday in New Mexico to temporarily store tons of spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants around the nation.
- The company has spent an estimated $80 million pursuing a 40-year license to build and operate the facility in southeastern New Mexico.
- New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham raised concerns because the federal government has no permanent solution for the waste piling up at commercial reactors around the country.
U.S. nuclear regulators have licensed a multibillion-dollar complex to temporarily store tons of spent fuel in New Mexico from commercial nuclear power plants around the nation.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its decision Tuesday about the proposed project in southeastern New Mexico.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the state’s congressional delegation oppose locating the storage complex in the state, saying they fear New Mexico will become the nation’s dumping ground for spent nuclear fuel because the federal government has no permanent solution for the waste piling up at commercial reactors around the country.
New Mexico approved legislation in March aimed at stopping the project. The fight is expected to end up in court, with state lawmakers saying their new law requires Holtec International, the energy company that wants to build the facility, to acquire construction permits from the state.
New Jersey-based Holtec has argued that the New Mexico measure requiring consent is pre-empted by federal law and that a court fight would only delay the economic boon that would come from building the complex. The company has spent an estimated $80 million pursuing a 40-year license to build and operate the facility in southeastern New Mexico.
NEW MEXICO TASK FORCE TEAMS UP WITH RESEARCHERS TO ADDRESS MISSING PERSON CASES INVOLVING NATIVE AMERICANS
Company officials and some elected leaders from southeastern New Mexico have been pushing hard to offer what they call a temporary…
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