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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 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 , some of it dating from the 1980s, pile up at current and former nuclear plant sites nationwide. The waste was meant to be kept there temporarily before being deposited deep underground.

U.S. nuclear regulators in 2023 licensed the proposed multibillion-dollar storage complex in New Mexico, while opposition persisted.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the Legislature put up stiff resistance with legislation that threatened to withhold state permits at least until a permanent storage solution is in place.

“It's inappropriate to call anything ‘interim’ when you don't have a permanent repository” for spent nuclear fuel, said Sen. Jeff Steinborn of Las Cruces, lead sponsor of the bill.

He called Holtec's decision to withdraw “a huge relief,” adding that “of course it's still a national problem that needs to be solved.”

By contrast, Lujan Grisham's Republican predecessor, Susana Martinez, had been supportive of the project. Holtec had argued the plan was safe and would be an economic boon for the region, without interfering with nearby oil development.

Critics of the project, including the Sierra Club, said Holtec's decision highlights an enduring roadblock.

“Nuclear energy has an intractable problem — no one wants the waste,” said Camilla Feibelman of the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter.