Governor Steve Sisolak and the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects have filed a new legal motion to bring an end to a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
On Tuesday morning, the state filed a motion in State of Nevada v. United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission that would lift the current stay on the Yucca Mountain licensing proceedings for the sole purpose of considering Nevada’s motion for summary disposition. If those summary disposition motions are approved, the Attorney General’s Office, through its special nuclear counsel, will request that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission deny the Yucca Mountain license application once and for all.
These motions for summary disposition are based on the following failures by the Department of Energy:
• The department’s failure to obtain necessary control over the land surrounding the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain;
• The department’s inability to obtain necessary restrictions on military aircraft over the area at Yucca Mountain and;
• The department’s failure to address human-caused climate change in its licensing application for the Yucca Mountain
Despite the opposition of Nevadans, Yucca Mountain was first designated as a nuclear waste repository in 1987, but thanks to the tireless efforts of Nevada officials from both parties in the decades since, the repository remains empty.
(Office of Governor Sisolak, Nevada Attorney General Office both contributed to this report.)
