San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

449 F.3d 1016 (2006)

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San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
449 F.3d 1016 (2006)

  • Written by Robert Cane, JD

Facts

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (defendant) for a license to construct and operate a proposed interim-spent-fuel-storage installation (storage installation) at Diablo Canyon, where it operated a nuclear facility. PG&E needed the additional storage capacity for spent fuel to continue operating. The NRC categorically refused to consider the environmental effects of a terrorist attack. The NRC determined as a matter of law that the risk of a terrorist attack on a nuclear facility was too remote and speculative to require an in-depth review of the environmental effects. However, the NRC itself had previously expressed the risks of terrorism post-September 11, 2001, and the importance of taking security measures against such risks. Further, the NRC also suggested that it need not examine the risk of terrorist attacks because such risks were unquantifiable. Accordingly, the NRC approved PG&E’s application for its storage installation. The San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (plaintiff) filed a petition for review of the NRC’s approval of the storage installation in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Thomas, J.)

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