" NRC CAN LICENSE AWAY-FROM-REACTOR SPENT FUEL STORAGE FACILITIES"

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@AECL.CA>]

NUCLEAR NEWS FLASHES - Tuesday, February 24, 2004

U.S. NEWS:

--NRC CAN LICENSE AWAY-FROM-REACTOR SPENT FUEL STORAGE FACILITIES, a federal

appeals court ruled today. Utah and a Native American group opposing the

eight-utility consortium Private Fuel Storage LLC's (PFS) plans to develop a

storage site on an Indian reservation in Utah had challenged NRC's authority

to issue licenses for privately owned facilities. The challengers argued

that the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 superseded any authority the

agency had under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. But the U.S. Court of

Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said it found no evidence that

Congress intended to prohibit construction of such facilities when it

directed DOE to build a national federal repository.