NRC sets schedule for Yucca Mountain appeals
WASHINGTON -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission set ground rules Wednesday for appeals of this week's ruling that sidetracked plans to scrap a Yucca Mountain nuclear waste license.
The agency issued a one-page order setting a July 9 date for appeals and arguments on why the decision issued by an agency legal panel should not be overturned. Follow-up briefs are due July 16.
Attorneys and officials who follow the Yucca Mountain case interpreted it as a sign that the commission wants to address the issue sooner rather than later. It was widely expected that the leaders of the regulatory agency would have the final word after the initial ruling.
Based on the schedule for legal briefs and the amount of time taken for the commission to resolve a matter last year in the Yucca case, it is possible that a final decision could come around mid-August, according to Charles Fitzpatrick, an attorney representing Nevada.
In April, NRC commissioners said in an order that they wanted "to resolve the matters pending before our agency as expeditiously and responsibly as possible," and preferably before a federal court in Washington acts on an associated Yucca Mountain matter.
Oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit are scheduled for Sept. 23 on cases filed by Washington state, South Carolina, Aiken County in South Carolina and others challenging the Obama administration's plan to terminate the Nevada project.
On Tuesday, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, a judicial arm of the NRC, denied approval for the Department of Energy to withdraw an application to build a nuclear waste repository at the Yucca site, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
A panel of three administrative judges said DOE could not pull the plug without action from Congress.
Officials from DOE and the state of Nevada have said they will appeal the decision.
Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.
