MEDIA ALERT FOR March 5: ORAL ARGUMENTS IN LANDMARK DC CIRCUIT COURT CASE CHALLENGING HOLTEC'S NEW MEXICO HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE DUMP

 NEWS FROM BEYOND NUCLEAR

  For immediate release 

  Contact:

  Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste specialist, Beyond Nuclear 

  Michael Keegan, Co-Chair, Don’t Waste Michigan

  Stephen Kent, KentCom LLC

MEDIA ALERT/INVITE TO COVER FOR March 5, 2024

ORAL ARGUMENTS TAKE PLACE MARCH 5 IN LANDMARK DC CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS CASE CHALLENGING HOLTEC RADIOACTIVE WASTE DUMP IN NEW MEXICO

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 5, 2024--

WHAT? Journalists are invited to attend and cover oral arguments in Case Number 20-1187, Beyond Nuclear v. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The arguments will be presented on March 5 before a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  The case challenges NRC licensing of Holtec International's consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) for high-level radioactive waste targeted at the Eddy Lea Energy Alliance site, midway between Carlsbad and Hobbs in southeastern New Mexico.  Petitioners contend that the Holtec license violates the Nuclear Waste Policy Act and other federal laws. Opening the Holtec facility would trigger unprecedented numbers of shipments of highly radioactive irradiated nuclear fuel (aka “spent” nuclear fuel) across the country.  The Court’s ruling in the case could prevent that and set a far-reaching precedent for the disposition of high-level radioactive waste.

WHO?  Attorneys representing petitioners who oppose the Holtec radioactive waste dump licensing and attorneys representing respondents and the intervenor who support it, will each make oral arguments in Court.  The Petitioners include Beyond Nuclear; Sierra Club; the national grassroots environmental coalition Don't Waste Michigan, et al.*; Fasken Land and Minerals, Ltd.; and Permian Basin Land and Royalty Owners (PBLRO). Federal Respondents include the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the United States of America. Holtec is the Respondent Intervenor. The Nuclear Energy Institute is an Amicus Curiae. (See the Court's Feb. 22, 2024 ORDER, for the order of parties' oral arguments.)

WHEN & WHERE?  Oral arguments in the case start at 9:30am Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Each side has been allotted 24 minutes. Journalists are invited to attend and cover.  

The arguments will be made before Judges Rao, Walker, and Garcia in Courtroom 31, at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse and William B. Bryant Annex, 333 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20001, located one block northwest of the U.S. Capitol. The building faces Constitution Avenue where Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues merge. The courthouse entrances include the 3rd Street Entrance, which is handicap accessible, as well as the John Marshall Park Entrance.  

Journalists can attend the oral arguments in person. Cell phones must be turned off or silenced and put into airplane mode. Attendees must pass through a security checkpoint magnetometer and are subject to a bag search upon entering the courthouse. For more information on the Court's Media Information and Policy, see https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/home.nsf/Content/Media+Information. Additional information regarding in-person courtroom seating can be found here: https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/home.nsf/Content/VL+-+RPP+-+Courtroom+Seating.

For those who can’t attend in person, audio of the oral arguments will also be streamed live on the Court website. To listen in, go to  https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/home.nsf/Content/VL+-+RPP+-+Information+Regarding+Live+Audio+Streaming+of+Arguments and click the link at the bottom of the page for “DAILY CALENDAR WITH LIVE AUDIO.” A recording of the oral arguments will be posted by 2:00 P.M. Eastern Time on March 5, 2024. 

Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste specialist at Petitioner Beyond Nuclear, will monitor the arguments via the court's live online audio, and can also put journalists in touch with Petitioners’ attorneys on request.  His contact information is listed above.

BACKGROUND

The current Case Number 20-1187, Beyond Nuclear v. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has been consolidated with D.C. Circuit Court Cases 20-1225, 21-1104, and 21-1147.  Here’s a brief summary of how it evolved and the issues it raises:

In March 2017, Holtec applied to NRC for a license to construct and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for up to 173,600 metric tons of highly radioactive commercial irradiated nuclear fuel (aka “spent” nuclear fuel or SNF) and highly radioactive Greater-Than-Class-C "low-level" radioactive waste.

Petitioners opposed to the CISF intervened in the NRC's licensing proceeding regarding Holtec's application. Most also engaged in the environmental scoping and Draft Environmental Impact Statement public comment proceedings, which resulted in many tens of thousands of public comments opposing Holtec's CISF – a record-breaking number for this subject matter. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission rejected all the contentions raised in the licensing proceeding, and effectively discounted most of the comments raised in the National Environmental Policy Act public comment meetings.

Petitioners then filed appeals in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. When the NRC granted Holtec a construction and operation license for its CISF in May 2023, these appeals became ripe for court consideration. Beyond Nuclear's Final Briefs, filed in January 2024, argue that NRC approval of Holtec's license violates the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as Amended (NWPA), and consequently also violates the Administrative Procedure Act. Beyond Nuclear's legal counsel has taken the lead on this argument, although the other Petitioners opposed to NRC's license approval for Holtec's CISF have also raised it.

See Beyond Nuclear's Final Briefs, here.

Don't Waste Michigan, et al., Sierra Club, Fasken, and PBLRO have raised numerous additional arguments, alleging issuance of the license violates the National Environmental Policy Act and other federal laws.

See Don't Waste Michigan, et al., and Sierra Club's Final Briefs, here.

See Fasken/PBLRO's Final Briefs, here.

The State of New Mexico has submitted a Friend of the Court Brief on behalf of Petitioners opposed to Holtec's CISF. The City of Fort Worth, Texas also filed a Friend of the Court Brief on behalf of the Petitioners opposed to Holtec's CISF, which focuses on the safety and security risks of transporting high-level radioactive waste to New Mexico, via Texas.

NOTE TO EDITORS AND PRODUCERS -- The documents mentioned in this alert as well as other briefs, filings, and documents pertaining to the case are available on request. For copies of documents, or for further information or interviews, please contact Kevin Kamps at Beyond Nuclear, (240) 462-3216, kevin@beyondnuclear.org.

*Don't Waste Michigan, et al., includes: Don't Waste Michigan (MI); Citizens' Environmental Coalition (NY); Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination (MI); Nuclear Energy Information Service (IL); San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (CA); and Demand Nuclear Abolition (NM), formerly known as Nuclear Issues Study Group.