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Lawsuits in the Press — 2004
September 16, 2004 – YUCCA MOUNTAIN PROJECT: U.S. Supreme Court intervention sought – Nuclear industry group wants ruling reversal – WASHINGTON -- The Nuclear Energy Institute has served notice it intends to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a ruling that threw the Yucca Mountain Project into turmoil when it was issued in July –
By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
September 13, 2004 – DOE appeals database ruling – The Energy Department filed an appeal on a Nuclear Regulatory Commisson Board's August 31 decision regarding the Licensing Support Network (LSN). LSN, an internet database on the proposed Yucca Mountain waste repository, is required to be certified as complete and available to the public six months before the NRC can begin to review DOE's Yucca license application. In August, an NRC board ruled the database was incomplete and needed to be re-certified – yuccamountain.org
 Read DOE's appeal brief (PDF, 302KB  )
September 09, 2004 – EPA won't appeal radiation standard – WASHINGTON -- The federal government will not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge a recent legal setback to Yucca Mountain, the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday. The EPA will comply with the ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which on July 9 affirmed a Nevada appeal, the EPA said in a statement – By Benjamin Grove, Las Vegas Sun, WASHINGTON BUREAU
September 08, 2004 – State sues over Yucca rail line – WASHINGTON -- Nevada sued the Energy Department once again today, this time over its plan to build a new rail line in the state to move spent nuclear fuel to Yucca Mountain. Attorney General Brian Sandoval claims the department did not follow federal environmental policy and other laws when it proposed the 319-mile railroad through through Lincoln County and it is shutting out important outside regulators on the project – By Suzanne Struglinski – Las Vegas Sun
September 04, 2004 – Court lets Yucca ruling stand –
Appeal denied on radiation safety guideline – WASHINGTON – A federal court ruling that struck a blow against the Yucca Mountain Project will become effective on Wednesday after judges this week refused to take a second look at the case. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said it will not reconsider the Yucca matter on appeal from the Nuclear Energy Institute –
By STEVE TETREAULT - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
(More coverage – the Las Vegas Sun)
September 02, 2004 – Yucca complaint points to unsafe toxic dust levels –Lawsuit accuses contractors of withholding information, deceiving tunnel workers – Workers and visitors inside Yucca Mountain inhaled unsafe levels of toxic dust in 2002, five years after a tunnel was completed to study whether the mountain can safely entomb nuclear waste, attorneys claim in court papers filed Wednesday – Las Vegas Review Journal
September 01, 2004 – DOE takes another Yucca hit from NRC – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission handed Yucca Mountain another setback Tuesday, saying the Energy Department did not have all of its project documents in order when the 5.6 million pages were submitted in June – Las Vegas Review Journal
September 01, 2004 – Yucca database problem criticized – Nuclear licensing board rules against Energy Department – WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department was dealt a new blow on Tuesday when a nuclear licensing board ruled DOE mishandled a public database that is supposed to contain all documents for the planned Nevada nuclear waste repository – By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
August 25, 2004 – Feds won't appeal Yucca ruling – WASHINGTON – Federal officials say the government will not ask a federal appeals court to revisit last month's ruling on the Yucca Mountain project's radiation standards. That leaves the Nuclear Energy Institute, the nuclear industry's lobbying and advocacy group, as the only party in the six lawsuits over the project to file a request for rehearing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The institute filed its request Monday. –
By Suzanne Struglinski Las Vegas Sun WASHINGTON BUREAU
August 11, 2004 – Lawsuit gets Jan. 10 hearing – WASHINGTON – Nevada officials will be in court on Jan. 10, when a trio of federal judges is scheduled to hear the state's case to gain easier access to federal money to challenge the Yucca Mountain Project – STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
July 28, 2004 – Panel hears complaints about Yucca database –
Nuclear repository documents unavailable, Nevada critics say – WASHINGTON -- Energy Department attorneys faced tough questioning Tuesday on DOE's handling of an electronic document database for the Yucca Mountain Project. Three administrative judges challenged the department's work to gather millions of documents and make them available on the Internet in preparation for licensing hearings on the proposed nuclear waste repository – By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
July 21, 2004 – NRC may delay its evaluation of Yucca –
Licensing process up in air as radiation standard sorted out – ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission may have to delay its evaluation of the Yucca Mountain project license application, Commissioner Edward McGaffigan said today – Las Vegas Sun
July 13, 2004 – Yucca project work to proceed – Ruling on health standards on hold as appeals play out – ; WASHINGTON -- A one-paragraph court order issued as Nevadans were celebrating a federal appeals court ruling on the Yucca Mountain Project will allow work to continue on the nuclear waste repository, at least for the time being, attorneys said – By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
July 13, 2004 – DAMAGE CLAIMS: Nuclear waste trials starting –
Three utilities seek money from government for its failure to build central storage site – WASHINGTON -- The government's failure to open a dump site for commercial nuclear waste could expose taxpayers to tens of billions of dollars in damages . One of the first in an expected string of trials to determine exactly how much began Monday in a courtroom across the street from the White House – AP
July 09, 2004 – Yucca in for long delay; radiation standard too low – Federal appeals court says 10,000 years is insufficient – WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court handed Nevada a major victory this morning, ruling that a key standard for the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository was incorrect, which could set the project back indefinitely By Suzanne Struglinski, Las Vegas Sun, Washington Bureau (Editorial - Columnist Jeff German - Las Vegas Sun)
July 09, 2004 – Panel to evaluate state's challenge of Yucca database – WASHINGTON -- A three-person panel will evaluate the state's challenges to the Energy Department's Yucca Mountain project document database. Federal law requires only one officer to evaluate them – Las Vegas Sun
July 08, 2004 – Nevada's anti-Yucca attorneys gearing up for license fight – WASHINGTON -- Nevada attorneys plan to file their complaints about the Energy Department's Yucca Mountain document database by the end of the week, now that a person has been appointed to handle the complaints – Las Vegas Sun
March 17, 2004 State sues DOE for loss of Yucca oversight funds – CARSON CITY -- Nevada filed suit today in a federal court, charging the Energy Department has shortchanged the state $4 million this fiscal year to oversee the development of a high-level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain – Las Vegas Sun
March 11, 2004 – Lawsuit claims workers at nuke dump in Nevada hurt by toxic dust – LAS VEGAS - A former tunnel worker at the nation's nuclear waste dump in the Nevada desert filed suit Thursday against Energy Department contractors, claiming the companies deliberately exposed employees to toxic dust at the Yucca Mountain project – By KEN RITTER AP
 Read the Complaint (PDF File 1.07 MEG)
February 26, 2004 – State threatens to sue Energy Department over funds – WASHINGTON -- Nevada has threatened to sue the Energy Department if it does not allocate an additional $4 million for the state's work on the Yucca Mountain project. If the department does not respond by March 15, the state assumes it will not give the state the money it is entitled and "will promptly seek a judicial remedy," Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects wrote in a letter to the department Monday – Las Vegas Sun
February 06, 2004 – Lawmakers welcome anti-nuke help –
Legislator from Minnesota opposes waste transport – Two Nevada legislators and an anti-nuclear activist hailed a Minnesota state lawmaker's promise Thursday to fight shipping radioactive waste through Minneapolis Las Vegas Sun
January 26, 2004, YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Nuclear waste lawsuits grow – Utilities want Energy Department to pay for missing deadline for repository– WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department is facing a new wave of lawsuits that could cost taxpayers billions of dollars because DOE missed a 1998 deadline to have a nuclear waste repository up and running in Nevada – STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
January 15, 2004 – No knockout on Yucca – Nevada's hopes for definitive legal victory fade – WASHINGTON -- Nevada officials said this morning they believe a federal appeals court will allow the Energy Department to pursue a license to build the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository – Las Vegas Sun
January 15, 2004 – FEDERAL COURT HEARING: Yucca foes gain hope – WASHINGTON -- Federal judges weighing Nevada challenges to the Yucca Mountain Project reacted with skepticism Wednesday to some of the state's key arguments, but suggested they might look favorably on other claims that could slow the proposed repository – Stephens Washington Bureau
January 13, 2004 – Nevada set to make final Yucca stand – WASHINGTON -- Nevada's 20-year fight against Yucca Mountain will come down to three hours of arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington on Wednesday. – Las Vegas Sun
January 12, 2004 – Yucca case to be heard Wednesday – The federal government says entombing the nation’s nuclear waste in the Nevada desert will be safe. Nevada says it’s a disaster in the making, and the state shouldn’t have to bear the burden of being the nation’s nuclear waste dump – AP
January 02, 2004– Critical year for Yucca – Court challenges considered pivotal in long battle over nuclear dumpsite WASHINGTON -- After a 21-year struggle, Nevada may finally know by the end of 2004 whether it can stop the nation's nuclear waste from being stored at Yucca Mountain – Las Vegas Sun
Lawsuits in the Press Archives 2003-2001
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