Fifth Circuit Should Rehear Nuclear Waste Storage Case, Feds Say

The federal government urged the entire US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to rehear a panel decision that vacated a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license for a waste storage facility in Texas.

The government, which has been trying for decades to figure out where to store spent nuclear fuel, told the court that its ruling vacating the license for the facility conflicts with rulings about the same agency action by other courts.

The Justice Department and NRC said that a rehearing is necessary to answer whether the Hobbs Act allows non-parties to challenge an agency’s order as exceeding its ...