UPTON, DINGELL URGE ACTION IN YUCCA REVIEW COURT CASE

Nearly a year after the D.C. Circuit Court suspended the case that could force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to resume analyzing the Yucca Mountain spent nuclear fuel repository, “the court has still not acted,” Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and John Dingell (D-Mich.) wrote in an opinion piece in the LegalTimes yesterday. When the court suspended the case in August 2012, it was to see whether Congress would either change the Nuclear Waste Policy Act or appropriate money for the NRC to resume its review of the Department of Energy’s application for Yucca. Congress has done neither, yet the D.C. Circuit Court has not issued a decision, and the Congressmen noted that the NRC is now a year late in issuing a final ruling on the application. “The need for action is urgent: Spent fuel and nuclear waste continue to accumulate at sites across the country that were never designed for long-term storage,” the op-ed states. “In our view, the statutory duties of the president and the NRC are clear and appropriated funds are available. … To protect public health, safety and the environment, Congress needs to know whether the court will enforce the Nuclear Waste Policy Act.” Read the opinion piece here.