The efforts of New Mexico and Texas leaders to stop any more radioactive waste being dumped in their states will soon rest in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court justices.
The high court agreed on Friday to consider the fight to store the waste at sites in rural areas of the two states. Justices agreed to review a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that found the Nuclear Regulatory Commission went far behind its authority under law to grant a license to a private company to store spent nuclear fuel at a dump in West Texas for 40 years.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed Texas “will not become America’s nuclear waste dumping ground,” according to the Associated Press.
A decision by the Supreme Court will also affect New Mexico where a dump site exists near Carlsbad. As the AP reported, nearly 100,000 tons of spent fuel is stored in the two sites. In Nevada, opposition from residents stopped plans for a proposed site there.