Yucca Mtn. appeal will be heard in March

A federal appeals court will begin hearing oral arguments on March 22 in a lawsuit brought in part by Aiken County against the Department of Energy for stopping plans toward a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

The lawsuit filed by the county, the state of South Carolina, the state of Washington and the National Association of Utility Regulators maintains that the Obama administration and DOE do not have the authority to stop plans for Yucca Mountain, a project for which South Carolina dollars have already been spent.

Without the repository in Nevada, spent nuclear fuel at the Savannah River Site would have nowhere to go.

Aiken County Administrator Clay Killian said that the county is pleased that the lawsuit is moving forward.

"DOE has been dismantling Yucca Mountain and has been trying to shut it down," said Killian. "Our concern is that if DOE was allowed to continue dismantling until all the courts were done wrangling with this issue, there would be a much longer delay in getting it restarted, if, in fact, it does get restarted."

Oral arguments were scheduled to begin in September but were postponed, according to Killian. The parties involved filed briefs and will argue their sides before the court.

"The quicker we can get all that done, the quicker we'll have an answer and at least know what to do," he said.

Contact Anna Dolianitis at adolianitis@aikenstandard.com.

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