State of South Carolina files Response Brief to NRC ASLB Order.

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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."

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

Rep. Hasting Press Relesase Yucca Termination Disapproval Resolution

Bi-parttisan letter to Sec Chu calling for a halt to any further Yucca termination

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.

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Tthe NRC issued the 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.

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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.

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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.

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The Blue Ribbon Commission convened it first meeting in Washington D.C. with a bruising congressional hearing as the its backdrop and House members of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee told Secretary Chu directly that its was their express intent included in law and legislative history that Yucca be considered as an alternative option to be evaluated by the Commission.

As reported by George Lobsenz of the Energy Daily, Secretary Chu continued to push Yucca off the table, ..." Energy Secretary Steven Chu Thursday convened the first meeting of his blue-ribbon nuclearwaste study commission by telling panel members that while a final disposal repository will clearly be needed, he does not want them looking back to determine if the proposed Yucca Mountain repository was "a bad decision or a good decision" nor does he want them to propose possible new sites for a repository.

For their part, commission members pledged an independent review of nuclear waste disposal options, and agreed that there was no environmental or safety crisis demanding immediate action by the government to set a new policy course even though the Obama administration already is moving to kill Yucca Mountain.

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The Energy Daily reports on the House Energy and Water Development

Subcommittee hearing that Secretary Chu backs off Yucca reprogramming until he discusses the matter with and NRC rules on the DOE's motion to withdraw the Yucca.

As reported by Jeff Beattie of the Energy Daily, "Under intense criticism from leaders of a key House spending panel, Energy Secretary Steven Chu backed off Wednesday from the Energy Department's proposal to reprogram $115 million within its current budget to bring the Yucca Mountain project to an orderly close, saying he would consult more closely with the panel on the matter. DOE's proposal to re-shuffle the Yucca money was questioned at a hearing of the House energy and water appropriations subcommittee, including by subcommittee Vice Chairman Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.) and ranking Republican Rodney Frelinghuysen (N.J.). Both suggested the move would violate directives in DOE's fiscal 2010 spending bill, which appropriated monies for DOE to advance a license application for the nuclear waste repository at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission."

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The House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing on the DOE FY2011 congressional budget request at which Secretary was sharply questioned on the DOE plans and actions to terminate Yucca Mountain and to use reprogrammed FY2010 funds intended for licensing to do so.

Reps. Pastor and Frelinghuysen questioned whether the DOE had legal authority to reprogram FY2010 funds to restructure  OCRWM workforce as well as merging the statutorily mandated office of OCRWM into NE.

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The Bi-Partisan group of House Members, including Reps. Clyburn, Dicks, Spratt, Hasting, and Inslee file Bi-partisan House Resolution of Disapproval of Yucca Project termination.

As as stated in a Press Release by Rep. Hastings,..."  a bi-partisan coalition of Representatives including Jay Inslee (D-WA), Doc Hastings (R-WA), Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Norm Dicks (D-WA), John Spratt Jr. (D-SC), Fred Upton (R-MI), and Gresham Barrett (R-SC) introduced a Resolution of Disapproval to compel the Department of Energy (DOE) to cease its efforts to pull the license application for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. This March the Department of Energy filed a motion with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to withdraw the application, with prejudice, to create a national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The Resolution introduced today is aimed not only at stopping DOE from using appropriated funds to terminate the program, but also ensure the preservation of all scientific and site specific files and data related to Yucca Mountain.

"After decades of scientific studies and billions of dollars spent - Yucca Mountain is the national repository under current law," said Rep.
Hastings. "I have serious concerns about DOE's decision to ignore current law and move forward with what amounts to a de facto termination of Yucca Mountain even before a decision is made about the license application.
This resolution sends a clear message that Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle will continue actively working to keep the Yucca Mountain license moving forward."

Rep. Hastings Press Release

House Resolution of Disapproval of Yucca Termination

Senator Murkowski delivers Senate floor statement sharply critical of the DOE action to seek termination of the Yucca Mountain project and to withdraw the Yucca license application with prejudice.

In part, Senator Murkowski stated "..,That may seem like a creative interpretation on my part, but at the same time the motion to withdraw was going forward Secretary of Energy Steven Chu noted that due to the revival of the nuclear industry, Yucca Mountain's repository would hit its statutory capacity limit in the next several decades and would not meet future industry needs. So instead of moving forward with a permanent repository that billions of dollars has already been spent on, and simply expanding the arbitrary limit that the law puts on the size of the repository, spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear reactors will be stored on-site at over 100 locations across the country for at least. the next several decades. And if we do have the nuclear revival that many of us believe is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet our energy needs, the number of on-site storage locations across the country will only increase..."

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The Energy Daily in a front page story reported on NRC Commissioner Dale Klein's remarks at the NRC Regulatory Information Confernece (RIC) in which Commissioner Klein was highky critical of the administration's handlign of the Yucca Mountain issue, saying that administration's decision to terminate the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository does not appear to be based on "factual findings" and its "unfortunate" handling of the issue will delay resolution of the nation's nuclear waste disposal problems for years.

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Click here for Commissioner Klein's Remarks Before the NRC Regualtory Inforomation Conference

Energy Daily, Senator Murray branded DOE's decision to withdraw the Yucca Mountain license application as "Irresponsible". As reported by the Energy Daily, Senator Murray at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Thursday, March 4, 2010, was sharply critical of Secretary Chu's decision to terminate Yucca Mountain.

Using tough words that signal a growing political mess for the Obama administration, a senior Senate Democrat told Energy Secretary Steven Chu Thursday that it was "irresponsible" for his agency to seek to permanently withdraw its application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to build the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada.

The blistering criticism from a "very dismayed" Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), whose home state hosts DOE's heavily contaminated Hanford nuclear site, came only hours after the department late Wednesday filed its withdrawal request
with the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB), a panel of NRC administrative law judges that has been considering DOE's application since 2008.

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NIC Statement on DOE Yucca LA Withdrawal Request

Citizens Against Government Waste, the 27-year saga of the nation's permanent underground nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada continues. After taking office in January, 2009, President Obama made good on his rash campaign promise to shutter the site, located 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

That decision, which is widely and correctly understood to be a political gift to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), has negative ramifications far beyond the near- term political expediency of appeasing Leader Reid and the anti-nuclear power crowd. In fact, it is patently illogical when viewed in tandem with the President's stated support of nuclear power in general. The nation currently has 58,000 metric tons of commercial nuclear waste sitting at storage facilities at power plants across the country. President Obama's crusade to close
Yucca Mountain and permanently yank the facility's license application will imperil the nation's entire energy policy and cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.

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The Aiken County, South Carolina filed a lawsuit against the
administration and DOE actions to seeking termination of the Yucca Mountain project and the withdrawal of the Yucca license application from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC. Click on the Link Below for the Aiken County U.S. Court of Appeals Filing.

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The New England Governors Conference transmitted a letter to Energy Secretary Chu stating that New England is home to three permanently shut down single unit reactor sites. Spent fuel storage areas and activities remain licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory (NRC). Accordingly, all three sites could be returned to the benefit of local communities but for the fact that spent fuel and high-level waste has not been removed the federal government as required by law and contract

New England Governors Conference 12/16/09 letter to Energy Secretary Chu regarding the establishment of the Blue ribbon Commission.

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GAO report titled Nuclear waste Management: Key Attributes, Challenges, and Costs for the Yucca Mountain Repository and Two Potential Alternatives, November 2009

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Rep. Mike Simpson letter to Secretary Chu opposing any termination in funding for Yucca licensing activities

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Reps. Barton-Walden Letter to Chu expressing concerns regarding DOE's intentions to discontinue funding Yucca Mountain licensing activities

NEI letter to NRC regarding Yucca MountainLicensing Application Review that urges the NRC to focusagency resources solely on the technical review of DOE's applicationsrather than conducting adjudicatory hearings

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Energy Daily new story regarding Yucca Mountain's potentialtermination impacts on the clean up at Hanford and Savannah River Siteciting concerns of state and local officials and community reuse groups.

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The New Build Monitor reports that the DOE is planning to terminate funding of all Yucca licensing support activities in December 2009 and provide only $46.2 million for FY2011; $21.2 for site remediation and worker transition and $25 million for archiving of Yucca data.

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Rep. Doc Hasting in a letter to President Obama inquires about the status of the administration's plans to develop a new option in light of the administration's apparent abandonment of Yucca Mountain. Rep. Hasting specifically requests an update on a number of specific issues, including the status of the blue ribbon commission

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NRC Commissioner Dale Klein in a letter to President Obama requests that a successor be nominated to fill his seat on the Commission.

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The Senate approved and passed the Energy and Water Development FY2010 Appropriations Conference Report, H. Rept. 111-278. The House had previously approved the conference report, so H.R. 3183, the FY2010 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill, H.R. 3183, will now be sent to the President for signature.

H.R. 3183 provides $196.7 million for the nuclear waste disposal program as well as funding for the continued licensing of the Yucca Mountain project.
In addition, the Conference Report also directs that Blue Ribbon Commission must consider "all alternatives" for nuclear waste disposal.

The White House issued an announcement of its intention to nominate George Apostolakis and William D. Magwood, IV, as Commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

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DOE OCRWM Director Chris Kouts Letter to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners responding to the NARUC's request to Energy Secretary Chu to suspend payments to the Nuclear Waste Fund.

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House-Senate Energy and Water Development FY2010 Appropriations Conference Report Excerpted Nuclear Waste Disposal section.

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A House-Senate Conference Committee meeting was held and the Committee approved the FY2010 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill and adopted the conference report.

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Apparent disagreement surfaced within the NRC over the publication in the federal register of revisions to the NRC's current Waste Confidence Rule. Commissioners Dale Klein and Christine Svinicki vote sheets were posted on the NRC web site indicating that both commissioners were in favor of requesting additional public comment on the proposed rule changes since the public comment period had closed before the administration had formally announced its intentions to terminate the Yucca Mountain repository project. Commissioner Gregory Jaczko's vote sheet had not been posted at the time the vote sheets of the other two commissioners were posted, a significant departure from the normal operating procedure of the commission.

The significance of the division of opinion within the NRC is yet to be determined. In part, the proposed changes to the waste confidence rule included a modification eliminating the conditional requirement of having an operating geologic repository by 2025 upon which the commission would as a basis derive confidence, in part, that spent fuel and high-level waste would eventually be permanently disposed of. Thus, delinking the waste confidence rule from a specific repository development schedule. Instead, the final rule would propose, in part, that the Commission finds reasonable assurance that mined geologic repository capacity would be available 50-60 years after a nuclear power pant license was terminated.

Commissioner Svinicki vote sheet in the matter of the Waste Confidence rule, NRC Web site, September 24, 2009

Commissioner Klein vote sheet in the matter of the Waste Confidence Rule, NRC web site, September 25, 2009.  

Revisiting America’s Nuclear Waste Policy - Chamber of Congress Report