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New Mexico may seek veto power over spent nuke fuel storage
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FILE - People walk on the sand near the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant in San Clemente, Calif., on June 30, 2011. The U.S. government has long struggled to find a permanent solution for storing or disposing of spent nuclear fuel generated by the nation's commercial nuclear power plants, and opposition in the Southwestern U.S. is flaring up again as New Mexico lawmakers debated a bill that would ban construction of such a facility without state consent. - photo by AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Senate on Monday approved a proposed ban on the local disposal of spent nuclear fuel, unless the state provides its consent first. The bill from Democratic state Sen. Jeff Steinborn, of Las Cruces, could impact a proposed multibillion-dollar facility in southeastern New Mexico that is expected to temporarily store spent nuclear fuel from commercial power plants across the nation. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission may announce a decision as soon as March on whether to grant a license to that project from Holtec International.