Petroplex News

ANDREWS – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recommended approving an application for a high-level nuclear waste storage site in Andrews County.

The potential high-level nuclear waste storage site is near the Texas-New Mexico state line, 80 miles from Midland – a region rich in oil and a busy corporate center.

An NRC report said the site would be appropriate and present a minimum of potential risk for residents and wildlife.

The storage site is to be run by Interim Storage Partners, a waste  disposal company based at 9998 Texas Highway 176 West, 32 miles west of  Andrews. The proposed nuclear waste site would store up to 5,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel for 40 years.

“Based on an ISP analysis of cask response to transportation accident conditions, releases of SNF (spent nuclear fuel) would not be expected from the proposed SNF shipments under accident conditions,” the report in the Midland Review-Telegram said.

Some Midland County residents and officials including county commissioners previously opposed the planned site because nuclear waste would be transported to the facility on Midland’s railways. NRC staff said they considered the “incident-free transportation” of spent nuclear fuel as well as transportation involving a possible accident.

An environmental impact statement from the NRC recommended granting a storage license to Interim Storage Partners.

The report outlined the potential environmental impacts of the project, and the impact of constructing and operating a waste site at the location the NRC said was minimal. One area assessed by the NRC was the project’s impact on transportation.

In the event an accident did happen, the NRC report found the risk to individuals and to the public would be low.

“The impact to public health where the site would be constructed was also found to be small, as well as its impact on wetlands, groundwater, soil and air quality,” the report concluded. “Vegetation at the site could be moderately impacted by construction of the site, which could result in loss of habitat for some wildlife.”

Environmental groups raised the possibility of negative impacts on species including the Texas horned lizard and dunes sagebrush lizard at a hearing in July 2019.

“The small amount of potential habitat that is present at the proposed CISF (consolidated interim storage facility) necessary for dunes sagebrush lizard survival, the small amount of disturbance planned in that habitat for fences, and mitigation measures that ISP commits to implement (stabilizing and revegetating disturbed areas) would limit impacts to lizards,” the report said.