While those issues play out over the coming years, the expanding HI-STORE site can bridge the storage gap. Several of the best sites for long-term nuclear storage have become NIMBY (“not in my back yard”) hot-buttons and political footballs. It may also help facilitate the creation of new nuclear power facilities, especially as smaller, pod-based nuclear reactors become increasingly common and cost-effective.Įnergy policy makers will also see enhanced flexibility with new storage options. Storage of nuclear waste has been a concern and hinderance to nuclear power applications for nearly a century, but options like this could relieve the burden on existing nuclear plants, many of which are nearing end-of-life. Holtec and ELEA are proud to have worked together to eliminate the most formidable barrier to the renaissance of nuclear energy that our country faces today.” The project has the ability to allow Southeast New Mexico to diversify its economy, generate some 400 jobs, infusing ~$3 billion investment in the area. Program Director for the HI-STORE CISF, Ed Mayer, drove home the point that the collaboration with eager & excited local officials was absolutely critical to the successful application process with the NRC, stating, “Thanks to the local support, we have persevered for the past eight years to license HI-STORE in spite of variable enthusiasm from the State’s authorities. The site, while within the Permian Basin region, is just north of the Delaware Basin, thereby allowing for storage within the basin’s deep sedimentary rocks without interfering with oil production or disruption to popular protected areas, including Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Forest. The facility is set to be located in a sparsely populated stretch of desert near the border of Lea and Eddy Counties, New Mexico. “(The communities) have welcomed us to bring our technologies to create environmentally benign and well-paying jobs, and help diversify the region’s economy thus fostering a stable industrial base,” says Holtec’s President and CEO, Dr. Holtec contends that this is an environmental and economic win for southeastern New Mexico. The material will be welded into stainless steel containers. Spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive waste will be stored on a temporary basis. The subterranean HI-STORM UMAX storage system is so environmentally unobtrusive that all industrial activities such as fracking, drilling, and potash mining in the area can continue without obstruction and, as stated in the final environmental impact study, construction of the proposed CISF would not have an effect on oil and gas operations regardless of drilling method. plants (notably Callaway and SONGS) have been using this technology accruing great benefits in terms of dramatically reduced radiation dose, ultimate protection from incident hazards (such as a crashing aircraft or airborne missiles) and its negligible environmental impact. The HI-STORE facility is the first in the world to deploy a below-ground storage system for consolidated interim storage although several U.S.
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