Holtec Gets Approval for New Mexico Nuclear Waste Storage Site

Holtec International has received federal approval to build and operate an underground nuclear waste storage facility in southeastern New Mexico.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted a license to Holtec for a facility that can house 500 cannisters holding approximately 8,680 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel from commercial power plants for 40 years in Lea County. The company has outlined plans to store an additional 10,000 canisters at the site, the commission said in a statement Tuesday.

The approval comes amid a political logjam over where to store tens of thousands of metric tons of nuclear waste produced by the ...