NRC RESPONDS TO YUCCA LICENSING LEGAL CHALLENGE

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission filed a response yesterday to a legal challenge to the agency’s closeout of the Yucca Mountain repository licensing review. The issue stems from a petition in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that calls for a resumption of repository licensing, citing a requirement in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act requiring the NRC to release its findings on the repository within three years. However, the NRC says that it has acted appropriately in the matter. “By preserving prior work product and pertinent documents, and suspending (but not terminating) the adjudicatory hearing, NRC adopted a reasonable approach in response to Congress’s current de-funding of NRC and DOE activities related to the proceeding and in response to uncertainty over future Congressional appropriations,” the brief states. It adds, “While reasonable people could—and some did—disagree over the timing of NRC‘s orderly-closure approach, that approach was not unreasonable, given budget realities on the ground. There never were, and still are not, sufficient appropriated funds to complete the NRC licensing proceeding.” The case is scheduled for oral argument May 2.