A federal appeals court yesterday upheld a congressional mandate to store nuclear waste at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain, but ordered the federal government to expand radiation protection plans beyond 10,000 years.
The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia holds the project hostage until the plans are redrawn, but there were no signs the state plans to appeal.
More than 100 interim nuclear storage sites exist throughout 39 states and more than 160 million people reside within 75 miles.
People were interested in these podcasts
Energy Department Secretary Spencer Abraham said he was pleased with the decision and that the project will protect public health and safety.
“While the court did not question the scientific validity of the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards, it did vacate one aspect of the standard, the 10,000-year compliance period,” Mr. Abraham said. “Therefore, DOE will be working with the EPA and Congress to determine appropriate steps to address this issue.”
Greg Bortolin, spokesman for Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn of Nevada, called the court’s decision “encouraging.”
“Nevada’s argument was based on sound science, and it is heartening to know that the court basically agreed with the state of Nevada,” Mr. Bortolin said. “All along, what the governor was doing was looking out for the safety and welfare of the citizens of Nevada.”
Congress mandated in 2002 that the nation’s radioactive waste from power plants and spent reactor fuel be stored at the Yucca Mountain site despite objections from Nevada state and federal officials. The site is 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
The court’s decision upheld the congressional act and dismissed other challenges as without merit.
“Having the capacity to outlast human civilization as we know it and the potential to devastate public health and the environment, nuclear waste has vexed scientists, Congress and regulatory agencies for the last half-century,” the court wrote.
“After rejecting disposal options ranging from burying nuclear waste in polar ice caps to rocketing it to the sun, the scientific consensus has settled on deep geologic burial as the safest way to isolate this toxic material in perpetuity,” the court said.
It also ruled that actions by President Bush and the Energy Department leading to the selection of the Yucca Mountain site are unreviewable.
However, the court ruled that the 10,000-year compliance period proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency is a violation of the Energy Policy Act in that it is not consistent with findings by the National Academy of Sciences.
The court said the waste to be stored at Yucca Mountain has a half-life of 17 million years and that radioactive waste and its harmful consequences persist for time spans beyond human comprehension.
“They can go forward, but they can’t get the license without the EPA regulation getting changed,” Mr. Bortolin said. “I concede it doesn’t kill the project, but past experience shows that changing an EPA regulation can sometimes take several years.”
About 20 percent of the nation’s electricity comes from nuclear power, and it is estimated that by 2005 the United States will have accumulated more than 100,000 metric tons of radioactive waste.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.