New York v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (New York II)

824 F.3d 1012 (2016)

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New York v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (New York II)

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
824 F.3d 1012 (2016)

  • Written by Robert Cane, JD

Facts

In an earlier case involving the State of New York (plaintiff) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the commission) (defendant), referred to as New York I, the court of appeals vacated the commission’s 2010 update to its Waste Confidence Decision and its Temporary Storage Rule. These issuances by the commission were intended to deal with the environmental effects of the storage of spent nuclear fuel. The commission prepared an environmental assessment with a finding of no significant impact to support the 2010 update and rule. However, the court of appeals held that the commission’s analysis failed to examine the environmental impact of not establishing a waste repository, the risk of storage-pool leaks, and the consequences of storage-pool fires. As a result, the commission modified its approach to the storage of spent nuclear fuel. The commission revisited the risks associated with spent-fuel storage. It conducted new analysis of the risks of pool fires, pool leaks, seismic events, and the lack of a permanent repository for spent fuel. It also examined the potential effects of short-term, high-volume leaks. The commission prepared a generic environmental-impact statement (generic EIS) and proposed the Continued Storage Rule (new rule) based on its review of the storage issue. This new rule provided that the generic EIS was to be incorporated into all future nuclear-reactor licensing proceedings. Reconsideration of the findings of the generic EIS were precluded absent a waiver that would permit a site-specific challenge to a licensing proceeding. New York and several other states and groups (plaintiffs) filed petitions for review of the generic EIS and the new rule. They claimed that the commission’s decisions were arbitrary and capricious because the commission failed to consider alternatives, miscalculated the risks involved, and made unreasonable assumptions.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Sentelle, J.)

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