The commission that decides whose radioactive waste may be buried in West Texas meets Thursday with 20 import applications in front of it — from a Michigan reactor, two Minnesota plants, an Army munitions contractor and more than a dozen others. It is meeting in Woodstock, Vermont, and the public can watch and speak by webinar.
The compact has two member states, Texas and Vermont, and one disposal site: a state-owned facility in Andrews County, on the New Mexico line, operated under contract by Waste Control Specialists. It is the only site in the country taking all three classes of low-level radioactive waste from generators nationwide — the contaminated gloves, filters, resins, tools and reactor parts that come out of nuclear plants, hospitals and research labs. Two other licensed sites, in South Carolina and Washington state, serve only their own regions. Vermont’s shipments are capped by the compact itself. Everybody else needs this commission’s permission, one application at a time, and granting or refusing it is most of what the commission does.
Thursday’s list reads like a map of the American nuclear industry. Palisades in Michigan appears twice. Xcel Energy has applications for both its Minnesota reactors, Prairie Island and Monticello. Holtec, which dismantles closed plants for a living, has two. The rest include Southern Nuclear’s Plant Vogtle in Georgia, Arizona’s Palo Verde, Vistra, Ameren Missouri, a BWXT plant in Tennessee doing Army ordnance work, and a firm listed as OnCare Digital Assets. Three export applications run the other way, letting Texas generators — among them the South Texas Project and Comanche Peak — ship waste out.
The operator opens the meeting with a report on how much room is left at the site, how the next disposal cells are coming along, and how safety has run lately. The commission also reviews its annual budget, hears from its rules and contingency-plan committees, gets a legislative update, and takes up the federal licensing standards that govern how this material is buried. Public comment comes early, as item 4.
One thing to watch is the commission’s own membership. Its published roster still lists two of the six Texas seats — including the chair’s — with terms that expired on August 31, 2025. Brandon Hurley has gone on signing commission documents as chairman since.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 9:00 a.m. Eastern Thursday, August 13, 2026 — 8:00 a.m. in Texas. The notice was filed August 4.
- Where
- On The River Inn, 1653 West Woodstock Road, Woodstock, Vermont. Texas and Vermont are the compact’s two member states.
- Governing body & chair
- Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission — six Texas members and two Vermont members. Brandon T. Hurley, chair; John M. Salsman, vice chair. The governor of the host state names both.
- Format
- In person and by Zoom webinar. To comment, use the webinar’s raise-hand button or email administration@tllrwdcc.org beforehand; the chair calls speakers by name.
- Live video
- Registration and recordings at tllrwdcc.org.
- Full agenda
- Secretary of State Open Meeting Viewer · Commission website
Commissioners
- Brandon T. Hurley, Texas — chair. Term listed as expired since 2025.
- John M. Salsman, Texas — vice chair; certified health physicist. To 2029.
- Ryan Anwar, Texas — commissioner. Term to 2029.
- Linda Morris, Texas — commissioner. Term to 2027.
- Jeff Mundy, Texas — commissioner. Term listed as expiring August 31, 2025.
- Sumana Nayak, Andrews, Texas — commissioner. Term to 2027.
- Peter Bradford, Vermont — commissioner. No term listed.
- Richard H. Saudek, Vermont — commissioner. No term listed.
Roster and term dates from the commission’s own About the Commission page, which also carries the text of the compact’s duties and powers. Hometowns are not published for most members. Staff: Stephen Raines, executive director; Rebecca Shannon, administrative assistant. Congress consented to the compact in 1998; the Texas enabling law took effect in 1993.