Portales council hears nuclear fuel presentation

PORTALES -- The Portales City Council heard a presentation by a company that is working to obtain a license to transport used nuclear fuel by rail through the city of Portales to an interim storage facility in southeast Lea County.

The Curry County Commission heard the same presentation a few weeks ago and the Clovis city commission heard it Thursday.

Ed Mayer is program director of the project in southeast New Mexico for Holtec International.

“Holtec International is a diversified energy technology company with its headquarters located in Jupiter on Florida’s Treasure Coast,” as stated on holtecinternational.com . One of its areas of expertise is nuclear fuel and waste management.

The presentation was for information only.

Portales City Manager Sarah Austin said later in an email that the agenda item “was brought to city council to answer questions on the safety aspect of the trains that will go through our city with this type of load. The facility is going to be located in Carlsbad.”

Mayer said railcars will move “from Clovis to Carlsbad to the facility, so you (in Portales) will see the railcars.”

The fuel will come from nuclear power plants, he said.

The plan to centralize the storage was designed by a Blue Ribbon Commission appointed by former President Barak Obama to save taxpayer money, he said. The cost of storing the fuel at various sites across the country will be $800 million a year.

Although the facility is an interim facility, the storage will last between 40 to 60 years, he said.

The fuel has been transported around the country for the past 60 years without an accident, he said. The containers are protected from terrorist attacks and will not harm the environment, he said.

One commissioner asked if the railway track will be upgraded, because some of the tracks in Portales need improvements, especially at the crossing stops. Mayer said they would upgrade the railway tracks.

The property in New Mexico was purchased at an earlier time by the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, he said.

“ELEA is an alliance of the Cities of Carlsbad and Hobbs and the Counties of Eddy and Lea, which was formed Under the Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) for Economic Development Purposes in 2006 and to Respond to Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) Proposal from the Department of Energy,” as stated on ncsl.org. “ELEA purchased 1,000 acres of land approximately halfway between Carlsbad and Hobbs, N.M. for potential use.”

Mayer said ELEA bought this property. “So, they already knew this was a good place for a nuclear reactor or nuclear technology.”

“The specific routes of the rail cars have to be approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.” That has not occurred because Holtec does not yet have the license.