DOJ Wins Stop To $367M Merger Of Radioactive Waste Firms; NRC suspends licensing proceeding on WCS CISF
A Delaware federal judge on Wednesday blocked the $367 million merger of EnergySolutions Inc. and Waste Control Specialists LLC, siding with the U.S. Department of Justice in the government's bid to enjoin the deal on antitrust grounds. [This story was broken by Law360 Environmental. The remainder of the article is behind a pay wall.]
WCS had hoped EnergySolutions -- its competitor in "low-level" radioactive waste dumping -- could take it over, which would allow for the resumption of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing proceedings on WCS's proposal to construct and operate a centralized interim storage facility (CISF) for 40,000 metric tons of commercial irradiated nuclear fuel in Andrews County, TX. This court ruling appears to have dealt a severe blow to those plans.
By coincidence, the NRC Commissioners just affirmed their vote, at around 2pm Eastern on Thursday, June 22nd, to approve the combined request by WCS, NRC staff, and even opposing environmental groups (including Beyond Nuclear), to suspend the CISF licensing proceeding.
Here is a link to the NRC Commissioners' MEMORANDUM AND ORDER, which actually denies most of the environmental coalition's requests made on April 28, 2017, regarding procedures and deadlines to come, should this licensing proceeding resume.
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Karen Hadden, Executive Director of the Sustainable Energy & Economic Development (SEED) Coalition in Austin, TX, released the following statement in response to the DOJ decision announced June 21st:
"WCS’ high-level radioactive waste dump could be halted by the Department of Justice decision since the company has said they don’t have enough money to complete the application. However, WCS is likely to seek a bailout from their lapdog, Energy Secretary “Radioactive Rick” Perry. Taxpayers could be left footing the bill.
The WCS site is not a safe place to store deadly high-level radioactive waste and Texans shouldn’t have to suffer the health, safety, security and environmental risks that transport and storage of the nation’s most dangerous radioactive waste would bring."
Hadden added: "I was able to watch four days of the DOJ proceeding in Wilmington, DE, and the DOJ attorney and case were impressive."
Several news outlets have now reported on this DOJ legal victory against the WCS/EnergySolutions monopoly merger:
- Dallas News - Why Feds put a stop to the sale of Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists - Jeff Mosier, Energy and Environment Writer
- GlobeNewswire - Judge Prohibits the Acquisition of Waste Control Specialists by EnergySolutions - Mark Walker
- Reuters UK - U.S. judge stops EnergySolutions' purchase of rival
- Texas Tribune - Amid Texas nuclear waste site's financial woes, judge blocks merger