A lawsuit challenging a recently-licensed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel should see some new action this week, court documents show.
Tuesday is the deadline for a coalition of anti-nuclear groups to file new motions in their suit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over Interim Storage Partners’ (ISP) proposed spent fuel storage site in west Texas, according to filings in the D.C. circuit court of appeals. The group includes the Sierra Club, Beyond Nuclear and mining company Fasken Land and Minerals.
ISP, a joint venture between Waste Control Specialists (WCS) and Orano USA, is looking to build its interim storage site in Andrews, Texas at WCS’s existing low-level waste facility. NRC licensed the project in September.
Meanwhile, the court on Friday granted ISP permission to step in on the anti-nukers’ suit, according to a filing. The company requested to intervene in March.
Before the Sep. 24 filing, there hadn’t been any movement on the case since late August, when the court added Fasken to the mix of petitioners. Proceedings had been on hold since March, when NRC requested a pause while it wrapped up agency-level business with the mining company.
The case is thawing as other lawsuits spring up to challenge the proposed site. Texas state attorney general Ken Paxton filed suit against NRC Sep. 23 in the fifth circuit court of appeals, where he asked a judge to deep-six ISP’s license. So far, Paxton’s team has yet to unveil their argument on the docket.
ISP isn’t the only would-be purveyor of interim storage that’s facing a legal challenge. New Jersey-based Holtec International is involved in a similar suit filed against NRC by New Mexico attorney general Hector Balderas, who took aim at a similar site planned for Lea County, N.M. The commission has said that it’s ready for the U.S. District Court for New Mexico to rule on its motion to dismiss the case.
