Mar 30 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Mike Gellatly Aiken Standard, S.C.



The Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission responded to Aiken County's legal efforts to block the closure of the proposed Yucca Mountain Project, stating that Aiken does not have any legal standing to intervene in the process.

In an answer to a complaint filed in February by Aiken County Council, the response agencies argue on several fronts that Aiken does not have standing to stop proceedings or that the municipality has not suffered any damage.

The suit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia seeks to halt the federal government's decision to withdraw the application from the Nevada site, which was at one point the destination for 4,000 metric tons of nuclear waste currently at the Savannah River Site.

The proposed termination of the Yucca project became a reality when President Barack Obama's administration's 2011 budget proposal called for the revocation of the application for long-term waste storage at Yucca Mountain.

 In the filing, the defendant agencies claim Aiken County is trying to intervene in a process in which a final decision has not been made. DOE has requested that the license application for Yucca Mountain be withdrawn; however, as no decision has been reached, it is improper for a lawsuit to be brought, attorneys claim.

"If Aiken County persuades the NRC to continue to review DOE's license application, there will be no controversy for this court to resolve," the response reads.

"By Aiken County's own account, it will not suffer its alleged harms unless and until the NRC makes a final decision on the withdrawal motion," filings state.

The response notes that NRC could still refuse to withdraw the application, at which point Aiken County's motion would be moot. Aiken County is also a party in those actions.

DOE also attacks Aiken's decision to bring the suit to the Court of Appeals on the grounds that DOE and NRC have failed to act on this issue.

"Aiken County's petition points to a subsection of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act providing that the court of appeals shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over a civil action alleging the 'failure' of the Secretary of Energy, the President or NRC 'to make any decision, or take any action, required,'" the suit states. "Rather, DOE has acted and the NRC Licensing Board has acted. Aiken County simply objects to those actions."

The response concludes with the government defendants, simply requesting that Aiken County's petition to stay proceedings be denied.

Contact Mike Gellatly at mgellatly@aikenstandard.com.

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