CAMDEN - Holtec International has won a round in its fight to open a nuclear-waste storage facility, but the company’s opponents say they’re not giving up.

A three-judge panel this week rejected nearly 50 objections to the Camden firm’s proposal for a "consolidated interim storage facility” that would initially hold up to 8,680 metric tons of uranium in a remote area of southeastern New Mexico.

The radioactive waste would be stored underground in 500 canisters made at Holtec’s Camden plant and elsewhere. The spent fuel would come from nuclear power plants across the country, including some being decommissioned by a Holtec affiliate.

The ruling keeps Holtec’s proposal “on track for licensing in 2020,” the company said.

More:Demolition begins at former Subaru headquarters in Cherry Hill

More:Police: Westampton vandal unhappy with property conditions

It describes the planned facility as “safe and secure” and says the sealed metal canisters, to be buried in steel and concrete vaults, are “terror-resistant.”

“Provided funding is obtained … and if construction could start in 2021, the (storage facility) could be ready to accept spent fuel shipments beginning in 2023,” Holtec spokeswoman Joy Russell said Thursday.

Shipments of waste would remain at the Lea County site for up to 120 years, according to Tuesday’s ruling by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.

But two environmental groups, Sierra Club and Beyond Nuclear, said they’ll appeal the 137-page decision by the board, which is part of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Among other objections, Sierra Club had argued federal law prohibits nuclear waste being moved to interim facilities before the government has identified a permanent storage site.

“No such permanent sites exist in the U.S.,” it said.

“This ‘interim” storage facility could well become a permanent repository without the protections of a permanent repository,” Sierra Club attorney Wally Taylor said in a statement.

Beyond Nuclear, a Maryland-based nonprofit, said it was “astounded” by the ruling.

It estimates the Holtec complex, with plans for 19 expansion phases over 20 years, could ultimately hold more than 173,000 metric tons of uranium.

Environmentalists have also expressed concern over the potential danger of transporting spent fuel from nuclear plants across the country.

In its ruling, the board said only three of six challengers had standing to request a hearing on Holtec’s license application.

It said Sierra Club and Beyond Nuclear have members living near the proposed storage site, while an oil-and-gas company, Fasken Land and Minerals, has business operations in the area.

But the board said none of the petitioners’ objections were admissible. As a result, it concluded, “this proceeding is terminated.”

Jim Walsh: @jimwalsh_cp; 856-486-2646; jwalsh@gannettnj.com

More:Mark D'Amico, suspect in GoFundMe scam, is indicted

More:PATCO, facing backlash, postpones changes to overnight service until June 1

More:Police: PCP fueled naked man's attack on 9-month-old boy in stroller

More:Glassboro police investigating origins of strange backpack that caused neighborhood alarm