Court sets schedule for legal challenges to Yucca shutdown

WASHINGTON -- A federal court on Friday came off the sidelines and set a schedule to resume a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's termination of the Yucca Mountain Project.

A three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia agreed in June to set aside a case filed by Aiken County, S.C., and the states of South Carolina and Washington until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission could issue a ruling on the controversial Nevada nuclear waste site.

With the NRC appearing to be deadlocked, the court issued a schedule to resume briefs in its case. Final briefs are due on Feb. 8, with attorneys following the case saying that oral arguments are likely to follow, and ruling perhaps four to six months after that.

"Apparently the court, like the rest of us, ran out of patience with the agency and reinstated its hearing of the case," said Rob Thormyer, a spokesman for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, one of the parties.

The ruling by the court of appeals comes on the heels of a similar move earlier this week by a quasi-judicial panel within the NRC.

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board had been hearing arguments for and against the project and had been waiting since June for a ruling by the commissioners who head the nuclear safety agency.

With no decision forthcoming, the licensing board signaled interest in resuming license hearings.

Bruce Breslow, executive director for the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, said the official decisions taken together mean "people want a decision or a conclusion whether or not the project is going forward or not.

"The Obama administration doesn't want the project and the state of Nevada doesn't want the project, but whether or not the licensing hearings stop will be up to the courts and ultimately to Congress," Breslow said.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephens media.com or 202-783-1760.