Beyond Nuclear v. NRC: Appeals against Fermi 3 proposed new reactor filed at the federal Circuit Court for the District of Columbia
July 22, 2015 
Terry Lodge
The appeals lawsuit has been launched: Beyond Nuclear v. NRC challenges the proposed new reactor Fermi 3, targeted at the Lake Erie shore in Monroe County, MI.
On July 22nd, Terry Lodge (photo, left) -- a Toledo-based attorney serving as legal counsel in Beyond Nuclear et al.'s* intervention against the proposed new Fermi 3 reactor in Monroe County, MI -- filed the following documents at the federal D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals (the second highest court in the land, just beneath the U.S. Supreme Court):
1. Agency Docketing Statement;
2. Statement of Intent Regarding Deferred Joint Appendix;
3. Petitioner's Motion to Hold Petition for Review in Abeyance;
4. Petitioner's Corrected Nonbinding Statement of Issues (filed on July 23rd);
5. Underlying Decisions from Which Appeal or Petition Arises.
Thus, Beyond Nuclear et al. have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), appealing the safety issue of Quality Assurance (QA) under the Atomic Energy Act, and the environmental issue of the transmission line corridor under NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act).
Keith Gunter, a Beyond Nuclear launch partner, provides Beyond Nuclear standing in the legal proceeding, based on his residence in Livonia, MI, within the 50-mile Emergency Planning Zone of the proposed Fermi 3 reactor.
In addition to the appeals listed above, Beyond Nuclear, represented by D.C.-based attorney Diane Curran and Atlanta-based attorney Mindy Goldstein, has also appealed the NRC's Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel Rule and Generic Environmental Impact Statement (formerly called NRC's Nuclear Waste Confidence policy), alleging violations of the AEA, NEPA, as well as the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).
Beyond Nuclear member Michael Keegan, a resident in Monroe, MI within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone of the proposed Fermi 3 reactor, has provided Beyond Nuclear legal standing on the Nuclear Waste Confidence appeal.
*The environmental coalition that intervened at the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) against Fermi 3 on March 9, 2009 includes Beyond Nuclear, Citizen Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, Don't Waste Michigan, and the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.
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On July 31st, Detroit Edison filed a response to Beyond Nuclear et al.'s motion to hold the proceeding in abeyance. The nuclear utility agreed with Beyond Nuclear that the Nuclear Waste Confidence aspects of the proceeding should be held in abeyance, pending resolution of New York v. NRC II. However, DTE emphasized its desire that the other matters on appeal be resolved ASAP.