Supreme Court Considers Texas Nuclear Waste Disposal Case
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear significant arguments that may determine whether Texas can establish what would be the nation’s first independent disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel. This case highlights ongoing challenges related to the management of high-level radioactive waste across the country.
Current National Landscape for Nuclear Waste
Currently, a considerable amount of high-level radioactive waste is housed on-site at various nuclear power plants across the United States. Despite efforts spanning several decades, federal agencies have been unable to develop a permanent national disposal site for this waste. Various stakeholders, including governmental entities and environmental advocates, have expressed concerns over the implications of long-term storage options.
Texas’s Position in the Nuclear Sector
While Texas has ambitions to become a hub for advanced nuclear energy, the state’s leaders have been hesitant to accept its most hazardous byproducts. In 2021, Texas, along with the oil company Fasken Oil and Ranch, initiated legal action against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The lawsuit challenges the NRC’s decision to license a temporary storage facility in West Texas, which would accommodate up to 11 million pounds of spent uranium fuel.
“The NRC’s abuse of authority must be stopped,” stated Monica Perales, an attorney representing Fasken Oil. “If not now, then all the spent nuclear fuel in America and maybe even foreign waste will end up in Texas and New Mexico indefinitely.”
Legal Developments and Supreme Court Review
A federal appeals court ruled in favor of Texas in 2023, leading the Supreme Court to agree to review the NRC’s appeal. The NRC has stated that it cannot comment on ongoing litigation but claims it possesses the authority to license the facility in question. According to the NRC, the plaintiffs did not utilize the agency’s internal appeals process prior to seeking judicial review.
Storage Facility Plans and Long-term Concerns
The proposed Consolidated Interim Storage Facility was first submitted for licensing in 2016 and aims to temporarily store spent nuclear fuel in specially designed concrete casks. The application anticipates a 40-year licensing term. In contrast, a permanent repository would be intended for storage extending over 100,000 years and constructed with more rigorous engineering standards.
The persistent failure of the federal government to create a permanent waste site has led to fears that interim storage might become a permanent solution. The Yucca Mountain project in Nevada, which sought to establish a federal repository, has faced significant public and legislative backlash since its inception and has effectively been abandoned since around 2010.
“The likelihood of an interim site out there becoming the de facto permanent waste site is extremely high,” commented Tom “Smitty” Smith, former director of Public Citizen’s Texas branch. “That facility is not designed for that kind of storage.”
Community Opposition and Legislative Response
In response to the proposed storage site, several Texas municipalities, including Dallas, have enacted resolutions against the project due to concerns about the transportation of radioactive waste. In 2019, Texas Governor Greg Abbott formally expressed opposition to the project in a letter to the NRC. Following that, in 2021, the Texas Legislature passed a law banning the disposal of high-level radioactive waste outside operational nuclear power plants within the state.
Upcoming Supreme Court Decision
The Supreme Court will review key questions: whether the plaintiffs had the right to seek court review and if the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 allows the NRC to license private entities for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel away from reactor sites. A decision from the Court is anticipated by June.
A Broader Context for Texas’s Nuclear Ambitions
As Texas positions itself as a leading state in the next generation of nuclear energy, the establishment of a permanent high-level waste repository would bolster its claims of nuclear supremacy, complementing Texas’s existing uranium mining operations and advanced reactor projects. However, there remains a void in support for disposing of nuclear waste among state leaders, as evidenced by the lack of response from stakeholders on the issue.
