Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists is reviving its efforts to persuade the federal government to bury high-level nuclear waste in West Texas.
Last year, the company had suspended its efforts as executives at the struggling company said their priority was to get their finances in order. Now, the company has a new owner and announced a joint venture to again pursue high-level nuclear waste storage in Andrews County.
Waste Control Specialists, founded by late Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, is one of two companies vying for a contract to store nuclear power plant waste as the federal government looks for a permanent solution. The other company is a Holtec International, which has a proposed site in New Mexico, next door to Andrews County.
The talk of shipping nuclear waste to the Texas-New Mexico border has generated opposition from environmentalists and some groups in West Texas. There is also some opposition in the D-FW area since the waste would likely travel through parts of the heavily-populated metropolitan area by train.
The radioactive material is being stored at nuclear power plants around the country, awaiting either temporary or permanent storage. The temporary storage proposed for West Texas would probably last for decades.
Earlier this month, Waste Control Specialists announced a joint venture with the U.S. subsidiary of French company Orano. That company is involved in decommissioning nuclear power plants and storing spent fuel at existing facilities.
The companies said they intended to resume the temporary storage application process. The financially stabilized Waste Control Specialists is already licensed to store low-level radioactive waste at its Andrew County site.
In January, private equity firm J.F. Lehman & Co. announced it was buying privately-owned Waste Control Specialists. The new owner also controls NorthStar Group Services, which decommissions nuclear power plants in addition to being a major wrecking, demolition and asbestos abatement firm.
An earlier Waste Control Specialists attempt to merge with rival EnergySolutions was thwarted by the U.S. Attorney General's office. The federal government objected on antitrust grounds because the combined entity would have controlled the only low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities serving 36 states.
Officials with Waste Control Specialists said last year that the merger was needed to "protect desperately needed American jobs and innovation." While new ownership shores up the company's finances, it's not clear how long or even whether the federal government will settle on a storage plan.
The proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site in Nevada was cut off by President Barack Obama and hasn't been revived. That site outside Las Vegas was meant to house the dangerous waste permanently.
The temporary sites, including the West Texas proposal, were seen as an interim step while a new permanent site was found.
President Donald Trump previously expressed support for Yucca Mountain. The Department of Energy budget included $120 million to restart the Yucca Mountain project. Ultimately, no money for that project, opposed by both Nevada senators, was included in the federal budget.
Opponents of the Waste Control Specialists plan have questioned whether the temporary storage in West Texas would eventually turn into permanent storage if gridlock over the issue continues.