A team of environmental interest groups is petitioning a federal to reverse the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s December rejection of two separate requests to delay the licensing of Interim Storage Partners’ proposed consolidated interim storage facility, according to a legal filing this week.
The environmental groups asked the court of appeals for the D.C. circuit to overturn the NRC’s decisions last year, which held that none of the petitioners’ contentions were convincing enough to pause licensing on the proposed waste disposal site, according to the filing.
The latest filing references commission from December 7 and December 17, both of which denied hearing requests from joint petitioners. According to commission records, the December 17 decision also included a request from Fasken Land & Minerals, Ltd. to lodge another objection to the proposed west-Texas site, which was referred to and later denied by the Atomic Safety & Licensing board.
The commission has until March 5 to submit its initial legal paperwork, according to the court docket. At deadline Friday, the commission had not submitted a response.
The commission is currently conducting an environmental safety review for Interim Storage Partners’ proposed storage facility in Andrews, Texas. The review, which would serve as a milestone towards the proposed site’s licensing, won’t be finished until the summer, the NRC has said. Interim Storage Partners is a joint venture of Orana and Waste Control Specialists.
