Reprocessing: ELEA says the quiet part out loud at Holtec in NM

But Heaton argued against viewing the used fuel rods as waste. He said the rods could be retrieved in the future from Holtec’s site and reprocessed for use in advanced nuclear reactors. Such a processing or reuse facility, Heaton said, could also be brought to southeast New Mexico to diversity its oil-dependent economy.

“There are many other options for that fuel,” Heaton said. “Burying spent fuel might not be the best option. Everybody recognizes used fuel is not absent of power that could be reused. It’s another economic development project that could come to our area. Those are job creators.”

ELEA, a quasi-governmental business consortium representing the Counties of Eddy and Lea in southeastern New Mexico, and their county seats of Carlsbad and Hobbs, is business partners with Holtec International on the high-level radioactive waste consolidated interim storage scheme.