HOUSE MEMORIAL 36

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2025

INTRODUCED BY

Meredith A. Dixon

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO TO STUDY THE BENEFITS AND COSTS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY AND REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STATUTORY AND RULE CHANGES TO FACILITATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY IN THE STATE.

 

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has a significant history with the nuclear energy industry and is home to several facilities focused on nuclear energy research, enrichment and storage; and

     WHEREAS, uranium, a metal that serves as fuel for nuclear energy, has been mined extensively in New Mexico since approximately 1950; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico also has a long history of traumas resulting from uranium mining, including high rates of illness, lung cancer and deaths among those involved in the industry; and

     WHEREAS, there are efforts underway to identify economically feasible, safer and more efficient ways to produce and transport nuclear energy; and

     WHEREAS, in 2022, the university of New Mexico received funding from the United States department of energy to support three nuclear power research projects, including work to develop small, next-generation nuclear reactors; and

     WHEREAS, there are potential benefits and costs to increasing the state's production and use of nuclear energy, and the university of New Mexico is positioned well to research and report on those costs and benefits and any recommended revisions to state law, given the depth of expertise and experience of its faculty and students; 

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the university of New Mexico be requested to:

          A. study the costs and benefits associated with development of the state's nuclear energy industry; and

          B. make recommendations for statutory and rule changes needed to support the operation of a safe and productive nuclear energy industry in the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico report its findings and policy recommendations to the appropriate interim legislative committee that studies issues related to energy; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the president of the university of New Mexico.

- 3 -