Holtec in New Mexico: Once Again the Minority Rules

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The Meeting that wasn't a Meeting

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Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Holtec

SUBJECT:  ISSUANCE OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR HOLTEC INTERNATIONAL’S APPLICATION FOR A CONSOLIDATED INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY LICENSE IN LEA COUNTY, NEW MEXICO 

This notice is being sent to interested stakeholders to announce the issuance of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a specific license application under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 72, “Licensing Requirements for the Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level Radioactive Waste, and Reactor-Related Greater Than Class C Waste,” to Holtec International (Holtec) for a Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) located in Lea County, New Mexico.  A licensing decision is expected in January 2023. 

The Final EIS was issued to the public on July 13, 2022 and is available through NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), under Accession Number ML22181B094.  The NRC will issue a Notice in the Federal Register within the next 10 days informing the public of the availability of the final report.  In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will also issue a Federal Register notice of its availability.  The NRC press release announcing the availability of the FEIS can be accessed at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2022/22-027.pdf. 

The NRC maintains the ADAMS system, which provides text and image files of NRC’s public documents.  The ADAMS system is accessible on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.  If you do not have access to ADAMS or have problems accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

A copy of the Final EIS is also available through NRC’s public website for the Holtec CISF review.  Navigate to the site at https://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/cis/holtec-international.html.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “FINAL Environmental Impact Statement - NUREG-2237.” 

Printed copies of the final EIS will be available at the following locations within the next few weeks:

• Roswell Public Library - 301 N. Pennsylvania, Roswell, NM  88201
• Hobbs Public Library - 509 N Shipp St., Hobbs, NM  88240
• Carlsbad Public Library - 101 S. Halagueno Street, Carlsbad, NM 88220 

Questions regarding the Holtec CISF Final EIS should be addressed to Jill Caverly, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or by telephone at (301) 415-7674.

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Petition to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham

Hi,

The Stopforever WIPP coalition has put together this petition to gain the attention of the governor to the dangerous proposal which would expand WIPP to take in surplus plutonium.

The pu would come from Texas to Los Alamos accompanied by armed guards, where it would be processed from metal to powder, trucked to South Carolina still under armed guard, reprocessed and then shipped back to WIPP. In many ways this is a very risky process.

If you are willing to print out and get signatures on this petition, please send to CCNS, PO Box 31147, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87594 by February 8.

Thanks in advance,
Dave

Petition to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham 

We, New Mexicans, call on our Governor to protect the public health and our environment by taking all necessary actions to stop the expansion of the nuclear waste facility called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in southeastern New Mexico.

We oppose this nuclear waste expansion at WIPP because:
-The federal government's expansion plans would transport each shipment of deadly waste past our homes twice, over and over for the rest of the century.
- The plutonium nuclear waste in the WIPP expansion is a different and more dangerous form, will remain dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years, and endangers the health of my family and future generations.
- Unless New Mexico says NO to WIPP expansion, other disposal locations will not be developed, and WIPP will always be the only dump site, which is not fair. New Mexico never agreed to bear the burden of being the only site.
- The federal government's plans would expand the size of the nuclear weapons dump to more than twice its current size and more than is allowed.*
- The federal government is not being transparent about expanding WIPP, even though it has clearly admitted its intention in published documents. By repeatedly refusing to discuss its plans with the public, most New Mexicans are not even aware of those plans.

We will strongly support our Governor taking all necessary actions, including denying permits for the piecemeal expansion. 

Name             Zip Code                  Signature 

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* Federal law and legal agreements with New Mexico clearly limit the amount of waste at WIPP, but the expansion would allow more than that capacity, as described in the April 2020 National Academy of Sciences Report - Review of the Department of Energy's Plans for Disposal of Surplus Plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

https://stopforeverwipp.org/

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