Yucca lives? Nuclear waste dump not dead yet

Yucca Mountain may be down for the count, but the referee hasn't reached 10 yet.

Last week, a federal appeals court heard arguments on whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission broke the law when it stopped moving forward with a licensing plan for the potential nuclear waste dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

It's a reminder to Nevadans that talk about the death of the long-delayed project remains premature.

And, according to media accounts of the hearing, the judges appeared somewhat sympathetic to the arguments made by Yucca Mountain Project proponents.

The case before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia involved a lawsuit filed by states - including Washington and South Carolina - that seek to get rid of nuclear waste currently being stored at power plants within their boundaries.

At issue is whether the Obama administration overstepped its authority by canceling the Yucca Mountain Project in 2009, leading the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to abandon licensing hearings.

The states argue that Congress has never repealed the 1982 legislation that created the project - known here as the Screw Nevada bill - so the process must go forward by law.

"The agency can't ignore the law simply because it thinks it won't get money (for the project) in the future," argued Andy Fitz, an attorney for the state of Washington.

That contention led Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to ask a lawyer for the NRC to explain on what grounds the agency could ignore the statute requiring action on the Yucca Mountain license application. "If it's just, 'We don't like it,' well that's not good enough," the judge said.

Meanwhile, Judge A. Raymond Randolph said allowing the NRC to disregard the 1982 law "would be a shift of power from Congress" to the executive branch.

A ruling is expected later this year. Perhaps the judges will agree that Congress has essentially acted by refusing to appropriate funds for the endeavor in the current budget year. If not, the Yucca Mountain battle may continue.