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Opposition Halts Nuclear Waste Project

By KRWG News

El Paso – Community opposition has deterred an Austin company from building a nuclear material storage site in Hudspeth County.

AFCI Texas had planned to use land near Fort Hancock for temporary storage of used nuclear fuel rods.

But, according to a story in Sunday's editions of the El Paso Times, the company decided not to use the site after county officials told them residents would oppose the project.

The company's managing partner, Bill Jones, says officials from the state General Land office suggested the company explore state-owned land in Hudspeth County because it is far from heavily populated areas and underground aquifers.

Jones says (http://bit.ly/sBjMAs ) the company planned to store the rods aboveground and to extract reusable uranium from the material on state-owned land.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.