U.S. SUPREME COURT DENIES CERT. TO BEYOND NUCLEAR RE: HOLTEC HIGHLY RADIOACTIVE WASTE DUMP LICENSE IN NEW MEXICO
[Tee shirt design by Noel Marquez, co-founder of Alliance for Environmental Strategies in southeastern New Mexico.]
(*See below the press release, for a note regarding consolidated interim storage facility transport risks, sent to reporters covering Holtec’s Palisades closed reactor restart scheme in Michigan. However, such transport risks apply to every reactor in the U.S.)
{The following media outlets have reported on this story, but the articles are behind paywalls: E&E News by Politico; Bloomberg Law; and Law360.}
| NEWS FROM BEYOND NUCLEAR For immediate release Contact: Mindy Goldstein, co-counsel for Beyond Nuclear, Turner Environmental Law Clinic, (404) 727-3432, [email protected] Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste specialist, Beyond Nuclear, (240) 462-3216, [email protected] Diane Curran, co-counsel for Beyond Nuclear, Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg, LLP, (240) 393-9285, [email protected]
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U.S. SUPREME COURT DENIES CERT. TO BEYOND NUCLEAR
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State Laws Against Consolidated Interim Storage Facilities
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| WASHINGTON, D.C., JANUARY 12, 2026–The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) today announced its rejection of Beyond Nuclear’s petition for a writ of certiorari. The petition challenged the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) license approval for construction and operation of Holtec International’s highly radioactive waste consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) targeting southeastern New Mexico. At up to 173,600 metric tons of storage capacity, Holtec’s CISF would be the largest high-level radioactive waste dump in the world.
Mindy Goldstein, co-counsel for Beyond Nuclear, said: “While we are disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision to let the D.C. Circuit’s erroneous decision stand, we are pleased that the D.C. Circuit, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Holtec have all recognized that the law expressly prohibits storage of federally owned nuclear waste at Holtec’s facility. Beyond Nuclear can now turn its attention to Congress to ensure our lawmakers understand the importance of permanent, safe disposal of our nation’s inventory of spent nuclear fuel.” Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste specialist at Beyond Nuclear, said: “Even though SCOTUS’s rulings have effectively upheld the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licenses for Holtec’s consolidated interim storage facility in New Mexico, and Interim Storage Partners’ in Texas, we still hope to stop them from going forward. After all, we were previously able to stop a very similar dump of Holtec’s and the nuclear power industry’s in Utah, on the Skull Valley Goshutes Indian Reservation, despite NRC having licensed it, and the federal courts having upheld that NRC license. And Holtec has already admitted defeat in New Mexico, as well.” (See: <http://archives.nirs.us/ Despite the federal court rulings, hard-won state laws in both New Mexico and Texas block the opening of these environmentally unjust CISFs, by prohibiting the issuance of state permits needed to break ground, unless the state consents.
For more information about Beyond Nuclear’s opposition to CISFs, see our series of eight, two-sided fact sheets, updated in June 2025, as well as a short educational video (published in September 2021), featuring the former Obama EPA director of Environmental Justice (EJ), Mustafa Santiago Ali, and grassroots EJ voices opposed to the CISFs: <https://beyondnuclear.org/
Also see Beyond Nuclear’s related website posts (March 2022 to the present) <https://beyondnuclear.org/
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| Beyond Nuclear is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization. Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abolish both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic. The Beyond Nuclear team works with diverse partners and allies to provide the public, government officials, and the media with the critical information necessary to move humanity toward a world beyond nuclear. Beyond Nuclear: 7304 Carroll Avenue, #182, Takoma Park, MD 20912. [email protected]. www.beyondnuclear.org. |
(*Dear News Media reporters and editors who cover the Palisades atomic reactor in southwest Michigan,
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