Washington, D.C. – Citing serious inconsistencies and deficiencies in the application for a nuclear plant in southeastern New Mexico, including the lack of a concrete disposal plan for nuclear waste, Public Citizen and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) today jointly petitioned the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to participate in the forthcoming licensing proceeding for the proposed facility.
A license for the plant—a uranium enrichment facility that would produce fuel for commercial nuclear power reactors—is sought by a multinational group of energy companies called Louisiana Energy Services (LES), which is dominated by the European consortium Urenco. The plant, dubbed the "National Enrichment Facility" (NEF), would produce fuel for nuclear power reactors, and would be located near Eunice, N.M., close to the Texas border.
"The license application presented by LES is replete with inaccuracies and blatant omissions," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "We intend to call LES to task on these deficiencies."
The groups represent their members living near the site of the proposed facility. The residents are concerned with the myriad shortcomings, misrepresentations, and unlawful aspects of the application, including LES's lack of a concrete strategy to dispose of its hazardous and radioactive waste. Public Citizen and NIRS also cited problems with the NEF application in its treatment of water resources, national security and nuclear proliferation issues, the need for the facility, and the cost of decommissioning the plant when it has ceased operation. Participation in the licensing proceeding will allow the groups the opportunity to formally raise their concerns about the plant to the NRC's licensing board.
"It is essential that these contentions be heard before the NRC even considers granting LES a license," said Michael Mariotte, executive director of NIRS. "Our members in New Mexico—and the public at-large—deserve a licensing hearing in which LES's plans come under strict scrutiny."
This is LES's third attempt to secure a site for its nuclear plant. The company withdrew its application to build a similar plant in Louisiana after nearly a decade of intense citizen opposition. LES made another attempt to locate the plant in Tennessee, but was again expelled by local opponents before it had a chance to submit an application to the NRC. Citizens were concerned about the company's misleading statements and lack of a clear plan for the disposal of its waste.
"Many New Mexicans are very pleased that NIRS and Public Citizen are bringing national exposure to the licensing proceeding and that they are raising very important contentions," said Don Hancock, director of the nuclear waste safety program at the Albuquerque-based Southwest Research and Information Center. "New Mexico has suffered for decades from the deadly effects of uranium mining and milling, and we don't need additional uranium production facilities."
The NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will determine whether the contentions presented by NIRS and Public Citizen are admissible in the licensing proceeding for the NEF. If admitted, the groups will participate as a party in the proceeding.
"My clients have presented a compelling case to be admitted as a party in the licensing hearing," said Lindsay Lovejoy, an attorney in Santa Fe, N.M., representing the groups. "The process would, no doubt, benefit from their inclusion."
To view the petition to intervene in the licensing proceeding and the supporting contentions, please go to http://www.citizen.org/documents/lescontention.pdf
For a corporate profile on Urenco, please go to http://www.citizen.org/documents/urenco.pdf