NRC begins environmental review for proposed WCS spent fuel storage facility

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is currently seeking comments from the public related to an environmental review of an application from Waste Control Specialists (WCS) to construct and operate a facility to store spent nuclear fuel in Andrews County, Texas.

WCS filed its application in April and is seeking a 40-year license for a facility that would receive spent nuclear fuel from reactors for storage pending final disposal.

Prior to a decision, the NRC will be conducting two separate reviews, one for environmental impacts and another to identify any safety issues that may arise, to determine whether the facility meets NRC regulatory requirements. The review will be in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act’s requirement to do analysis of environmental impacts for major federal actions.

At this time, the NRC has not yet accepted WCS’ application. If the NRC dockets the application, it will announce an opportunity to ask for a public hearing and an end date for comments on the scope of the environmental review in the federal register.

“We cannot proceed with the technical safety review until WCS adequately addresses our

request for supplemental information, but we do have the information we need to begin the

environmental scoping process now,” said Mark Lombard, NRC director of the Division of Spent Fuel Management.

The NRC said written comments on the scope may be submitted over the federal government’s rulemaking website.