Nevada files its final legal brief in attempt to stop nuclear waste

Suzanne Struglinski

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 | 9:49 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada filed its final legal brief Tuesday in its quest to derail the Energy Department's plan to ship waste to Yucca Mountain via train.

The state's attorneys filed the document in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the same court that rebuked the government in an order that that has thrown the proposed nuclear waste repository project at Yucca off schedule. It is now up to the court to decide if oral arguments will take place.

Nevada argues that the department did not follow federal environmental policy and other laws when it settled on the proposed 319-mile railroad through through Lincoln County and it is shutting out important outside regulators on the project.

The department wants to build the railroad to move canisters of nuclear waste from commercial reactor sites and former nuclear weapons construction plants. It announced last year that it plans to use the "Caliente Corridor" route to move nuclear waste to Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Nevada argues the department selected the route and applied for the land but only now is evaluating the environmental impact. It should have looked at the impact first and decided if the route was the best option, according to Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval. Caliente was one of five routes proposed for a railroad because no rail line exists in the state to move waste containers to the mountain.