Washington state files suit on Yucca Mountain

By Cy Ryan

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 | 5:13 p.m.

CARSON CITY – The state of Washington has filed a federal lawsuit to stop the dismantling of Yucca Mountain, the proposed nuclear waste dump in Southern Nevada.

It wants a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., to require the Department of Energy to continue developing Yucca Mountain while the court battle is fought.

Washington joins Aiken County, S.C., the state of South Carolina and the Hanford nuclear plant in the state of Washington opposing the order of President Obama to shut down Yucca.

Bruce Breslow, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, said the appeals court has moved fast. It ordered the energy department to submit its answer to the proposed injunction by Thursday and Washington to answer by Friday.

Officials in Washington state say they have an interest because of its Hanford nuclear plant near Richland, where nearly two-thirds of the nation’s defense-related high level waste is currently stored. “Much of this waste is stored in aging, leak-prone underground tanks,” the suit says.

Washington says Congress designated Yucca Mountain as the nuclear dump after almost 20 years of investigation. The Department of Energy, even after orders from Obama, can’t close it down, according to the suit.

The Energy Department in February announced it would discontinue its application for the repository, which now has to go before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Washington says it will “suffer irreparable harm” if the Energy Department proceeds to close Yucca. It says things should continue to go forward until the court can make a final decision.