LAS VEGAS (AP) - The federal Energy Department plans to appeal a move by federal regulators to delay decisions about terminating the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada.
The department served notice Thursday that it'll oppose an order by Nuclear Regulatory Commission administrative judges to have a federal appeals court rule first on legal issues about the shutdown.
Energy Department and NRC lawyers said the matter will be appealed Monday to the commissioners who have final say on how the nuclear safety agency will proceed.
According to Energy Department officials, the department has the authority to withdraw a license application for the once-planned waste repository 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
It is fighting lawsuits from the states of Washington and South Carolina and Aiken, S.C., that argue only Congress has that authority.