Supreme Court steps into a fight over plans to store nuclear waste in rural Texas and New Mexico

The justices said they will review a ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission exceeded its authority under federal law in granting a license to a private company to store spent nuclear fuel at a dump in West Texas for 40 years. The outcome of the case will affect plans for a similar facility in New Mexico.

Political leaders in both states oppose the facilities.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has said his state “will not become America’s nuclear waste dumping ground.”

The push for temporary storage sites is part of the complicated politics of the nation’s so far futile quest for a permanent underground storage facility.