Washington State et. al. filed a recusal motion
with the NRC regarding the Yucca ASLB decision.
"Through this motion, the State of Washington, the State of South Carolina,
Aiken County, South Carolina, and White Pine County, Nevada (collectively
"Movants") respectfully request that Commissioners Magwood, Apostolakis, and
Ostendorff recuse themselves and be disqualified from any consideration of
the decision of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB or Board)
denying DOE's withdrawal motion, and further that they make a determination
regarding this motion before considering any other matters, including
whether the Commission should review the ASLB decision or the merits of that
decision. This motion is based upon the responses of Commissioners
Magwood, Apostolakis, and Ostendorff to questioning during a February 9,
2010, confirmation hearing before the United States Senate's Committee on
Environment and Public Works."
The State of Washington files a Response Brief
to the NRC Order in opposition to the NRC's review of
the ASLB June 29, 2010 Memorandum and Order (M&O)
denying DOE's motion to withdraw the Yucca Mountain
license application.
The State of Washington asserts that "the Commission
should not take discretionary interlocutory review of the
ASLB's Order based on a clear ground for the recusal or disqualification of
three of the five Commission members."
The State of Nevada files a Response Brief
to the NRC Order in support of the Commission review and
reversal of the ASLB June 29, 2010 Memorandum and Order (M&O).
The State of Nevada asserts that the review of the ASLB M&O
"is necessary to avoid the unusual delay and expense associated
with continuation of a licensing proceeding over the applicants
objection."
The DOE files its Response Brief to the NRC Order
asserting that the ASLB decision rests on "flawed legal analysis and
significant misunderstandings as to the relevant statutes and applicable
legal principles."
In a nutshell, the DOE asserts that the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and
the DOE Organization Act of 1977 grant broad authority and discretion
which was not limited by the passage of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.
Aiken County filed its Response Brief to the NRC ASLB Order
requesting views on whether the Commission should review, and reverse or
uphold, the ASLB decision denying DOE's motion to withdraw the Yucca
Mountain license application. The Aiken County Response Brief makes a number
of strong arguments against the Commission's review.
The Plaintiffs in the Yucca lawsuits filed a response in opposition to the DOJ motion for delay in the Yucca schedule for briefs and oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit.
The rebuttal makes some very strong arguments and raises the question of impartiality with regards to several of the commissioners of the NRC given their testimony in February of this year in which they said they would not second guess DOE's decision to withdraw the Yucca license application.
A bi-cameral, bipartisan group of over 90 House and Senate members have sent a letter to DOE Secretary Chu calling for a halt on all further Yucca termination activities citing last week's unanimous 3-0 NRC judicial panel ruling that denied DOE's request to withdraw the DOE Yucca license from NRC review
The Department of Justice filed a motion, based on the recent NRC ASLB decision and the related NRC order requesting participant views as to whether the NRC should review and reverse, or uphold the ASLB decision, seeking to vacate the briefing and oral argument schedule and hold the consolidated Yucca cases in abeyance pending a final decision by the NRC.
The NRC issued an Order requesting the parties to the Yucca Mountain license proceeding to file briefs as to whether the "Commission should review, and reverse or uphold" the recent ASLB decision denying the DOE's motion to withdraw the application.
The NRC's Atomic and Safety and Licensing Board, in a unanimous 3-0, issued a decision denying the DOE motion to withdraw the Yucca Mountain license application. The Board in its ruling stated that:
"We do so because the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended (NWPA),7 does not permit the Secretary to withdraw the Application that the NWPA mandates the Secretary file. Specifically, the NWPA does not give the Secretary the discretion to substitute his policy for the one established by Congress in the NWPA that, at this point, mandates progress toward a merits decision by the Nuclear Regulatory ommission on the construction permit."
The reaction to the decision was swift many calling on the DOE to stop any further dismantlement of the program until such time that the Court rule on this important matter. A Court date for the hearing the oral arguments have been schedule for September 23.
The Ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator James Ihofe, has written a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requesting a updated status of the NRC technical staff review of the DOE Yucca Mountain application.
Reportedly, the NRC staff has made considerable progress in reviewing the application and has found no significant issues of concern. NRC may issue its findings sometime latter this fall.
Careful What You Ask For!!! 07/10/2010From the Response Briefs filed by those parties in opposition to the NRC's review of the ASLB June 29, 2010 Order and Memorandum denying DOE's motion to withdraw the Yucca Mountain license application...
Blue Ribbon Commission's Road Not Yet Traveled 03/29/2010As the Blue Ribbon Commission held its first meeting in Washington last week, it was hard to discern what road not yet traveled would yield to any better result than the utter failure of the Federal G...
Shot heard around the Nation!!! 03/07/2010You would have to wonder what took so long for some of the elected officials in 121 communities and 39 states to stand up in opposition to the "leave where it is " policy of the administration on nucl...
NRC Waste Confidence Contremps 09/25/2009The recent publicly disclosed deliberations of the NRC on the matter of revising the NRC Waste Confidence Rule, in which the NRC staff has proposed eliminating the requirement of an operating geologic...
The above includes all receipts to date, including collections and interest.
About The Sustainable Fuel Cycle Task Force
MISSION
The Task Force is a new grassroots effort supportive of forging a fresh consensus on key open issues related to a sustainable nuclear fuel cycle for the United States, including:
Resolution of back-end disposition Yucca Mountain licensing and funding Closed fuel-cycle approaches advancing recycling Promoting an independent government corporation to meet fuel cycle obligations
