WIPP Expansion a Win, Win for New Mexico?

There was an excellent article on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in the Albuquerque Journal today. The author mostly defends the safety of the project which is located between Hobbs and Carlsbad, but he also explains that “hot” nuclear waste is already stored at the facility.

The big question that is being asked now is whether another facility located near WIPP could serve as the nation’s primary storage site for waste from America’s nuclear power plants. With the Obama Administration having (unwisely in my opinion) shut down Yucca Mountain in Nevada, there is most definitely a need to get nuclear waste stored in a more secure location than is now available on-site at numerous nuclear facilities nationwide. It would seem that New Mexicans, particularly those from Southeastern New Mexico, have seen that nuclear waste can be contained effectively and that having it stored in their community is an economic boon that provides high-paying jobs.

So, it would seem that it is definitely worth looking into. The waste must be stored somewhere, why not here?