A coalition of environmental organizations on Wednesday petitioned a federal appeals court to overturn a Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision against challenges to a proposed consolidated interim used nuclear fuel installation in New Mexico.
On April 23, the commission rejected nearly all appeals from several organizations to a 2019 decision by an NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board against holding any adjudicatory hearings on a license application by Holtec International to build a storage facility for nuclear fuel in Lea County.
A group of seven organizations led by Don’t Waste Michigan had asked the commission to reconsider its case for standing to intervene in the proceeding and eight of its contentions, which if approved could be argued at a hearing. Among the issues raised were insufficient assurance of funding for the project, potential undercounting of the volume of low-level radioactive waste, and insufficient disclosure on the routes the used fuel would travel on the way to New Mexico.
The four commissioners ruled against all eight contentions, which made the standing issue moot. In a petition for review, the Don’t Waste Michigan coalition is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to reverse the commission decision and order the NRC to dismiss the license application.
The complaint says the NRC “wrongfully and unlawfully” denied the groups’ right to intervene in the licensing proceeding in breach of the Atomic Energy Act, Nuclear Waste Policy Act, and Administrative Procedure Act. The agency also incorrectly applied those laws and the National Environmental Policy Act in determining that none of the contentions were admissible, according to the filing.
Holtec filed its license application in March 2017 for just-underground storage of 8,680 metric tons of spent fuel for 40 years. With further approvals from the NRC, that could be expanded up to 120 years and in excess of 100,000 metric tons of material.
The NRC is expected next year to rule on the license application.
The organization Beyond Nuclear has also filed an appeal with the same federal court against the NRC’s rulings against its challenges to the Holtec project.
