ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Environmentalists and other watchdog groups are calling on New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to create a government agency that would be tasked with keeping the state from becoming a permanent dumping ground for spent nuclear fuel and other high-level waste.
Dozens of groups have sent a letter to the Democratic governor. They pointed to Nevada's success in mothballing the Yucca Mountain waste repository project and asked the governor to consider similar measures to protect New Mexico.
In comments recently submitted to federal regulators, state officials opposed a preliminary recommendation that a license be granted to Holtec International to build a multibillion-dollar storage facility in southeastern New Mexico.