Court Rejects Nev. Yucca Mountain Appeal

WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court refused Tuesday to review the Energy Department’s plans for transporting nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain by train.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Nevada’s arguments against the Energy Department’s environmental impact statement and other decision-making documents for the waste transport plan.

Nevada contended the agency overstepped its authority and violated environmental rules in reaching its decision to rely mostly on rail to take at least 77,000 tons of commercial spent fuel and high-level defense waste to the dump site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

“We conclude that some of Nevada’s claims are unripe for review and the remaining claims are without merit,” said a decision written by Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson.