Legalectric

In the news:

NRC lacks authority to license private, away-from-reactor nuclear waste facility: 5th Circuit

Really? Yes…

Interim Storage Partners wants to have a private nuclear waste storage facility sited in Texas. They applied and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a license. But that licensing decision has been upended, and project proponents Interim Storage Partners‘ and Waste Control Specialists’ dreams are in limbo.

“Our” Xcel Energy is fervently hoping that it, or another private nuclear waste storage facility, will take all that nuclear waste that’s piling up in Minnesota and put Xcel Energy out of its nuclear waste conundrum misery. Dream on… how’s that working for ya, Xcel?

I’m reminded of another Xcel Energy (NSP) project: “Private Fuel Storage” and the attempt to site nuclear waste on the Goshute reservation in Utah, which was ultimately withdrawn by the applicants. Given this decision, it seems we may have missed a good argument on that project, but on the other hand, the NRC did not license it.

The essence of the challenge, after wading through the “standing” arguments, was that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission did not have authority to license a private operation.

The court agreed, and said:

And the conclusion?

Here’s the entire decision, for your edification and reading enjoyment: