| inbluevt | Date: Wednesday, 2013/08/14, 5:38 PM | Message # 1 | DMCA |
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The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to resume the licensing process for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste depository project in Nevada.
In a 2-1 decision the federal appeals court ordered the NRC Tuesday to complete the review process on the project or issue an official rejection of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) application.
“Unless and until Congress authoritatively says otherwise or there are no appropriated funds remaining, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must promptly continue with the legally mandated licensing process,” wrote Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the majority opinion issued with
the ruling. “The president may not decline to follow a statutory mandate or prohibition simply because of policy objections.”
Yucca Mountain has been at the center of a long-term nuclear waste storage dispute, with the U.S. government having already invested several billions in the project as its future remains in limbo.
The DOE originally filed a license application to use the Nevada location as a possible repository in 2008. Yet, in 2010 the DOE sought to withdraw that application, with then Energy Secretary Steven Chu saying that the proposed geologic repository at Yucca Mountain was not seen as a "workable option" forlong-term storage.
In 2011, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce launched an investigation into the government’s plans to abandon Yucca Mountain, saying the decision lacked any scientific or technical basis for the withdrawal. Since then several states have taken action against the NRC, filing suit over delays and targeting regulations such as the Temporary Storage Rule adopted in 2010, which doubles the amount of time spent nuclear fuel rods can be stored at a decommissioned nuclear power site
from 30 to 60 years.
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Message edited by inbluevt - Wednesday, 2013/08/14, 5:40 PM |
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