Supreme Court clears path for temporary nuclear waste storage in Texas and New Mexico

The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed plans to move forward on storing nuclear waste at private sites in Texas and New Mexico, reversing a lower court’s decision that had blocked the effort.

Mark Sherman reports for The Associated Press.

In short:

• The court’s 6-3 decision revives licenses granted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to two companies to store radioactive waste at sites in rural Texas and New Mexico for up to 40 years, with a possible extension.
• The justices did not decide whether federal law ultimately permits such temporary storage but ruled that Texas and a local landowner forfeited their legal standing to block the NRC’s decision.
• Governors from both states oppose the facilities, warning they may become de facto permanent dumps in the absence of a national plan for long-term disposal.

Key quote:

“Congress has repeatedly failed to secure a permanent location for disposing of nuclear waste, and now the federal government is trying to force de-facto permanent storage facilities onto New Mexico and Texas. It is a dangerous and irresponsible approach.”

— Michelle Lujan Grisham, governor of New Mexico

Why this matters:

The U.S. has accumulated more than 90,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel, some of it dating back to the 1980s, sitting at reactor sites across the country. Without a permanent disposal site like the long-stalled Yucca Mountain project in Nevada, pressure grows to find alternatives. But placing temporary facilities in largely rural, lower-income areas raises deep concerns about environmental justice and long-term public health risks. These materials remain radioactive for thousands of years, and even "temporary" sites could become permanent by default if national politics continue to stall permanent solutions.

Read more: Texas eyes nuclear energy to meet industrial power demands despite local water worries