HOUSE MEMORIAL 40

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2016

INTRODUCED BY

Cathrynn N. Brown and Stephanie Garcia Richard

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE EDDY-LEA ENERGY ALLIANCE TO DEVELOP A CONSOLIDATED INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY.

     WHEREAS, the 2013 report from the blue ribbon commission on America's nuclear future strongly recommended that one or more consolidated interim storage facilities be established to temporarily store the spent nuclear fuel generated by America's nuclear fleet, which generates approximately twenty percent of the electricity in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, nuclear power plants are an important carbon-free source of reliable electricity production in the United States, and without them, America would be emitting six hundred million metric tons, or twenty-five percent more, of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually; and

     WHEREAS, there are thirteen decommissioned reactors in the United States that need a place for their used fuel to be stored, and about twenty more will be decommissioned by 2035; and

     WHEREAS, many power generators have overly packed fuel pools, and others have very limited on-site storage capability; and

     WHEREAS, the nuclear power utilities have standard contracts with the United States government requiring that the United States government take possession of the utilities' spent fuel by 1998 and remove it from their sites to Yucca mountain, which has not occurred because Yucca mountain has yet to be certified as a spent-fuel repository; and

     WHEREAS, most of the utilities have sued the United States government for breach of contract and have won settlement agreements that will pay the utilities from United States government settlement funds for their storage and management costs associated with their spent nuclear fuel beginning in 1998 until the United States government is able to take possession of the fuel and remove it to a temporary consolidated storage site or a permanent repository; and

     WHEREAS, the blue ribbon commission on America's nuclear future estimated that the United States treasury would pay out more than twenty billion dollars ($20,000,000,000) to the utilities by 2020, and thereafter, the cost to the treasury would be five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) per year; and

     WHEREAS, the Eddy-Lea energy alliance, llc, was formed by the cities of Carlsbad and Hobbs and the counties of Eddy and Lea for economic development purposes; and

     WHEREAS, the Eddy-Lea energy alliance purchased one thousand acres of land between Carlsbad and Hobbs to respond to a government project as a joint venture that ultimately did not materialize; and

     WHEREAS, the alliance was afforded a grant by the United States government of more than one million dollars ($1,000,000) to characterize the site extensively for environmental, archaeological, geologic, seismic and geographic criteria; and

     WHEREAS, the alliance was dormant until the blue ribbon commission on America's nuclear future began to focus on consolidated interim storage as an interim step to reduce costs through consolidation of the spent fuel and fulfill the contractual obligations with the utilities; and

     WHEREAS, the alliance site is ideal for a consolidated interim storage facility because of the technical criteria of the site, because it is thirty-five miles from any population, because there is no overhead air traffic and because there is a trained scientific nuclear workforce in the area; and

     WHEREAS, the number one concern of the alliance when developing any project on the site is the safety and security of the residents of Eddy and Lea counties; and

     WHEREAS, the board of directors of the alliance investigated the safety and security concerns extensively through visitations to nuclear manufacturing facilities and nuclear power plants and discussions with the nuclear regulatory commission; and

     WHEREAS, dry cask storage has been used for more than thirty years in America without incident; and

     WHEREAS, the alliance has received a favorable proposal from Holtec international to acquire the alliance site and develop it as a consolidated interim storage facility; and

     WHEREAS, Holtec international's sub-surface system, known as HI-STORM UMAX, is already certified by the nuclear regulatory commission; and

     WHEREAS, design, construction, safety, security, financial assurance and technical control, as well as the complete process for storage, must be overseen and approved by the nuclear regulatory commission; and

     WHEREAS, the nuclear regulatory commission approves and certifies all shipping casks, rail cars, trucking or any other method of transit; and

     WHEREAS, hundreds of shipments of spent fuel have occurred in America over the past thirty years without incident; and

     WHEREAS, the Eddy-Lea energy alliance believes the Holtec international consolidated interim storage facility will create some one hundred fifty highly paid jobs and will provide a one-billion-two-hundred-million-dollar ($1,200,000,000) capital investment in southeastern New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the alliance believes additional spinoffs in research and repackaging could create an additional two hundred jobs in the future; and

     WHEREAS, the Eddy-Lea energy alliance expects that there will be revenue-sharing income from the project that it expects to share with the state of New Mexico and the region;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the Eddy-Lea energy alliance, llc, be requested to develop a consolidated interim storage facility at its site in southeastern New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico congressional delegation, United States Secretary of Energy Edward Moniz and Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy John Kotek.

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