No Nuclear Waste in Andrews County

After going to see Oppenheimer, you can read State of Texas v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The failure of the Yucca Mountain repository for spent nuclear fuel led the NRC to explore “a consent-based approach for siting nuclar waste storage facilities.” With encouragment from the governors of Texas and New Mexico, it authorized such a facility in Andrews County–a remote location at the heart of the Permian Basin oil fields. Texas changed its mind, enacting a statute that made the storage of high-level waste illegal in the state.’

This lawsuit resulted. The Fifth Circuit found that the plaintitfs (Texas, a state environmental agency, an oil producer, and an oil-industry group) had constitutional and statutory standing to challenge the NRC’s license, and from there, concluded that the NRC had overstepped its statutory authority. No. 21-60743 (Aug. 25, 2023).