A federal appeals court in Washington has rejected environmental groups’ claims that federal nuclear regulators’ updated process for renewing licenses for commercial nuclear reactors failed to adequately consider the effects of climate change and aging plant components.
On Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s procedure — updated in 2024 — for evaluating whether to keep facilities running for an additional 20 to 30 years complied with the National Environmental Policy Act and procedural law.
NRC’s treatment of the effects of aging and climate change on reactors was “reasonable” and fell within the commission’s expertise, said Judge Brad Garcia, who wrote the opinion for the court.
Garcia said the court’s role in evaluating the commission’s process under NEPA is “substantially deferential” following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County. The landmark 2025 decision limited what factors courts should review when evaluating whether agencies were following NEPA, which requires federal regulators to take a “hard look” at environmental risks of major actions.
