A repository for spent nuclear fuel rods was proposed to be built in west Texas, even as a southeast New Mexican consortium hopes for a similar facility near Carlsbad and Hobbs.
Orano USA, a subsidiary of France-based global nuclear energy company Orano – previously known as Areva, announced a joint venture with Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists (WCS) to bring a consolidated interim storage (CIS) facility to Andrews, Texas.
A CIS facility is used to store the spent nuclear fuel rods temporarily, while a permanent repository is built.
The rods are presently being stored at their generator sites: active and decommissioned nuclear reactor facilities around the country.
The move would augment WCS’ 14,000-acre facility in west Texas, which is licensed for low-grade nuclear waste, but not for spent nuclear fuel.
The United States does not have a permanent repository, after the Department of Energy’s Yucca Mountain project in Nevada stalled under the administration of former U.S. President Barrack Obama.
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In total, the facility would hold about 40,000 metric tons of the waste, stored above ground and accepted in 5,000-ton phases, records show.
Officials predicted it could begin accepting waste by 2021.
Read more at New nuclear energy and fuel waste storage facilities emerging near Carlsbad?
