US regulators OK spent nuclear fuel facility in New Mexico

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. nuclear regulators have issued a license for a multibillion-dollar complex in New Mexico to temporarily store tons of spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants around the nation. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced the decision Tuesday. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the state’s congressional delegation oppose putting the storage complex in the state. They fear New Mexico will become the nation’s dumping ground for spent nuclear fuel because the federal government has no permanent solution for the waste piling up at commercial reactors around the country. The state passed legislation earlier this year aiming to derail the project, making a legal challenge likely.