State of Texas and NRC battle over dump in 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals

On November 4, 2021, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) filed a Motion to Dismiss, against the State of Texas's federal appeal in opposition to Interim Storage Partners (ISP).

On Nov. 15, 2021, the State of Texas responded.

The lawsuit was prompted by NRC's September 13, 2021 approval of ISP's license application to construct and operate a so-called Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) for up to 40,000 metric tons of highly radioactive, commercial irradiated nuclear fuel.

The ISP CISF is targeted at Andrews County in West Texas. It would occupy the Waste Control Specialists, LLC facility, just 0.37 miles -- and upstream -- from the state border with New Mexico. WCS is already a so-called "low" level radioactive waste dump for 36 states. WCS is located very near to, or even on top of, the Ogallala Aquifer, the largest in North America, stretching north to Ogallala Lakota homelands in South Dakota. The Ogallala Aquifer provides essential drinking and irrigation water to eight states on the High Plains.

Joining the State of Texas at the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is Fasken Land and Minerals, Ltd., as well as the Permian Basin Land and Royalty Owners (PBLRO) Association.

Beyond Nuclear has also legally intervened against ISP for several long years. Our federal appeal has been pending at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Now that NRC has rubber-stamped the ISP license, our appeal is at long last moving forward for its day in court.

Joining us with their own federal appeals against ISP at the D.C. Circuit are Fasken and PBLRO Association, as well as Sierra Club, and also Don't Waste Michigan, et al. (a seven-group coalition, including SEED Coalition, and Public Citizen, both of Texas).