The NRC said it had issued its final environmental impact statement on ISP’s application. It had recommended approval of the application after considering the environmental impacts of the proposed project.
ISP is a joint venture of Waste Control Specialists and Orano CIS, a subsidiary of Orano USA.
If granted, the licence would authorise ISP to build a facility to store up to 5,000 tonnes of spent commercial nuclear fuel as well as “Greater-Than-Class C (GTCC) Waste” for 40 years. ISP plans to expand the facility to a total capacity of 40,000 tonnes of spent fuel.
GTCC waste contains concentrations of radionuclides greater than Class C limits. It cannot be disposed of as low-level radioactive waste but must go to a geological repository. GTCC waste comes primarily from decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear power plants.
The new Texas facility would be built next to the Waste Control Specialists low-level radioactive waste disposal site.
The NRC said it would provide the final environmental impact statement to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The NRC must wait at least 30 days before issuing a licensing decision once the EPA publishes a notice in the Federal Register that it has received the document, it added.
The NRC published a draft environmental impact statement on the project in May 2020.
