HM 21

This bill is a memorial (a formal expression of legislative opinion without the force of law) from the New Mexico House of Representatives opposing the transportation and storage of high-level radioactive waste in the state. Specifically, it objects to Holtec International's proposed consolidated interim storage facility between Hobbs and Carlsbad, which would store up to 100,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel from 96 commercial reactors across the United States for a "temporary" period of 50 years. The memorial cites concerns about transportation risks, potential economic impacts to the state's agriculture, oil and gas, and tourism industries (worth billions annually), the lack of a permanent disposal solution that could make "interim" storage permanent, and New Mexico's existing burden of nuclear contamination from abandoned uranium mines and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.