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Holtec said the move would allow it to work with other states
that are more amenable.
The New Mexico project was cast aside despite a favorable U.S.
Supreme Court ruling in August that rebooted plans for temporary
storage in Texas and New Mexico.
The U.S. is at an impasse over a permanent solution for storing
spend nuclear fuel, as roughly 100,000 tons (90,000 metric tons)
of spent fuel, some of it dating from the 1980s, pile up at
current and former nuclear plant sites nationwide. The waste was
meant to be kept there temporarily before being deposited deep
underground.
U.S. nuclear regulators in 2023 licensed the proposed
multibillion-dollar storage complex in New Mexico, while
opposition persisted.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the Legislature put
up stiff resistance with legislation that threatened to withhold
state permits at least until a permanent storage solution is in
place.
“It's inappropriate to call anything ‘interim’ when you don't
have a permanent repository” for spent nuclear fuel, said Sen.
Jeff Steinborn of Las Cruces, lead sponsor of the bill.
He called Holtec's decision to withdraw “a huge relief,” adding
that “of course it's still a national problem that needs to be
solved.”
By contrast, Lujan Grisham's Republican predecessor, Susana
Martinez, had been supportive of the project. Holtec had argued
the plan was safe and would be an economic boon for the region,
without interfering with nearby oil development.
Critics of the project, including the Sierra Club, said Holtec's
decision highlights an enduring roadblock.
“Nuclear energy has an intractable problem — no one wants the
waste,” said Camilla Feibelman of the Sierra Club Rio Grande
Chapter.
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