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1 1 (July 15, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/govepju0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Consolidated Interim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel: Recent Licensing Decisions July 15, 2024 Storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is a topic of perennial interest to Congress. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued three licenses for storage of SNF at privately owned, away-from-reactor consolidated interim storage facilities (CISFs). One of those licenses, granted in 2006, was terminated by the license holder. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has vacated the other two licenses, for private facilities in Texas and New Mexico, in recent opinions. The Fifth Circuit's rulings have widened a split among the circuit courts regarding whether a party that did not participate in administrative proceedings before an agency may obtain judicial review of the agency action related to those proceedings. A separate challenge to certain NRC orders issued in the agency proceedings that led to the issuance of the license for the New Mexico facility is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In the case of the Texas CISF, petitions for certiorari filed by the NRC and the license holder are pending before the Supreme Court. The petitioners have asked the Court to resolve two disagreements between the Fifth Circuit and other circuit courts: (1) who is permitted to challenge NRC licensing decisions in federal court, and (2) whether the NRC has statutory authority to license private CISFs. In the case of the New Mexico CISF, the NRC and the license holder have also filed petitions for certiorari asking the Court to resolve the same questions. Civilian Nuclear Waste Storage and Disposal The Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 created the NRC and assigned to it certain regulatory authorities previously held by its predecessor agency, the Atomic Energy Commission, including responsibility for regulating certain uses of source material (uranium, thorium, and ores containing those elements at specified concentrations); special nuclear material (plutonium and enriched uranium, including materials artificially enriched by those materials); and byproduct material (other specified materials, including radioactive materials resulting from the production or use of special nuclear material). The NRC promulgated regulations for the licensing of waste storage facilities in 1980. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) required the Department of Energy (DOE) to take title to civilian SNF and to begin disposing of civilian SNF no later than January 31, 1998. Exercising authority Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB11199 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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