Appeals Court Upholds Nuclear Fuel Storage Rule https://morningconsult.com/alert/appeals-court-upholds-nuclear-fuel-storage-rule/ ASHA GLOVER | JUNE 3, 2016 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday upheld a rule that allows the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to store spent nuclear fuel at power plants.
The three-judge panel denied a request from four states, including New York, to review the rule, arguing the NRC failed to comply with obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act. The case is not the first time the court has had to address nuclear waste storage, according to the Friday decision.
“The petitioners contend that the NRC did not consider alternatives to and mitigation measures for the continued storage of spent nuclear fuel, miscalculated the impacts of continued storage, and relied on unreasonable assumptions in its environmental impact statement,” Senior Circuit Judge David B. Sentelle wrote in the court’s opinion. “Because we hold that the NRC did not engage in arbitrary or capricious decision-making, we deny the petitions for review.”
