WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a challenge to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority to approve a facility in Texas to store spent fuel.
The court ruled 6-3 on technical grounds that the state of Texas and others that sued could not pursue their claims because they had failed to intervene at an earlier stage when the agency was considering the proposal.
As a result, the justices did not reach the legal question of whether the NRC could authorize a temporary, privately owned storage site and allow for waste to be transported there.
At issue was whether the commission correctly allowed a company called Interim Storage Partners to store spent nuclear fuel in Andrews County, Texas, for up to 40 years.
As was discussed during the oral argument in March, the site could effectively become permanent, as the agency could extend the 40-year deadline indefinitely.
The United States has no permanent storage facility in large part because a long-gestating plan to construct one at Yucca Mountain in Nevada was never completed amid political opposition.
The decision could affect a similar proposal for a site across the border in New Mexico, which the commission also approved.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the commission for its 2021 decision, leading the Biden administration to take the case to the Supreme Court. The Trump administration took over the case and defended the commission’s authority to approve private nuclear waste storage sites.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others, including major landowner Fasken Land and Minerals, challenged the commission’s decision in court. The appeals court ruled both that they had a right to file suit and that the agency did not have the authority to issue the license.
Texas officials have said the commission would allow up to 40,000 metric tons of waste to be stored above ground in the Permian Basin, which, in addition to being a prominent oil field, is also a source of water for surrounding communities.
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