The state of New Mexico was scheduled to present its case against a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel to a panel of judges before Thanksgiving, court documents show.
Santa Fe’s lawsuit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which aims to block two proposed private interim storage sites in New Mexico and Texas, is scheduled for oral argument Nov. 15 in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals’ Denver courthouse, according to the court docket.
State Attorney General Hector Balderas has argued that NRC’s September decision to license Interim Storage Partners’ (ISP) proposed site in Andrews, Texas runs afoul of the federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA). Balderas is also challenging a similar project planned by Holtec International for Eddy County, N.M., which is still under consideration by the commission.
It’s Balderas’s second crack at sinking the proposed interim storage projects. The U.S. District Court for New Mexico in March dismissed a similar suit from the state attorney general, reasoning that such a “final agency action” from NRC was only reviewable in a federal appeals court.
If oral arguments go ahead as scheduled in the Tenth Circuit, it will be the second time federal judges have heard a state challenge to NRC’s interim storage authority. A judicial panel in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Aug. 29 cast doubt on the agency’s claim that the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) gave it the power to grant ISP its license.
Meanwhile, NRC on Monday informed the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals — where it is facing another interim storage lawsuit from a coalition of stakeholders — that it was available for oral arguments in that venue. As of Wednesday, the D.C. court had yet to schedule such an event.
If it gets built, Holtec has said that its proposed site could store roughly 8,700 tons of spent nuclear fuel in around 500 canisters, with capacity for an additional 10,000 canisters to be added via license amendments. NRC staff in August recommended that Holtec receive a license for its project.
The proposed ISP site, meanwhile, is designed to hold around 40,000 tons of spent fuel — around half of the country’s current inventory.
