NRC WON’T APPEAL YUCCA COURT RULING

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has decided not to appeal a Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruling that compelled the Commission to complete the licensing review for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository that had been stopped in 2010. While the NRC will not join the appeal process, the state of Nevada filed a motion for an en banc hearing on the mandamus late last week. Nevada’s filing stated, “This case is also of exceptional importance. A holding that mandamus is required simply because an agency fails to meet some statutory deadline will encourage the filing of numerous mandamus petitions. As the Court is well aware, Congress often imposes deadlines but fails to appropriate the money necessary to meet them.” The deadline for appealing the Aug. 13 decision concluded last Friday at midnight. A NRC spokesperson said, “The NRC did not seek a rehearing and did not participate in Nevada’s petition for en banc review.”