Two southeastern New Mexico counties could get a new nuclear-related project thanks to a ruling by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Hobbs News-Sun reports the NRC last month approved a plan for the continued storage of used nuclear fuel onsite at nuclear power plants.
This action could open the door in Lea and Eddy counties for a long-term interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel.
The Eddy/Lea Energy Alliance has been working on luring a nuclear project to a jointly-owned 640-acre site in western Lea County since plans for President George Bush's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership project fell through in 2007.
The move comes as officials work to reopen the federal government's troubled nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico following a leak.
