SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A private energy company is abandoning a proposal to store nuclear waste at a site in southeastern New Mexico.
Holtec International described an “untenable path forward for used fuel storage in New Mexico” as it walked away from the proposal to temporarily hold spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants across the nation. The New Jersey-based company confirmed its decision Thursday.
Holtec said the move would allow it to work with other states that are more amenable.
The New Mexico project was cast aside despite a favorable U.S. Supreme Court ruling in August that rebooted plans for temporary storage in Texas and New Mexico.
The U.S. is at an impasse over a permanent solution for storing spend nuclear fuel, as roughly 100,000 tons (90,000 metric tons) of s