No ruling for now on Nevada bid to block plutonium shipments
RENO — A federal judge in Nevada said Thursday she's unlikely to decide before next month whether to block the U.S. Energy Department from shipping a metric ton of weapons-grade plutonium from South Carolina to a nuclear security site north of Las Vegas.
U.S. District Judge Miranda Du expressed sympathy at times for the state's argument during an evidentiary hearing in Reno stretching nearly six hours that the federal government has failed to complete an adequate environmental review necessary to ship the radioactive material to Nevada.
But she declined to immediately grant the state's request for a temporary injunction blocking the move and agreed to allow Justice Department lawyers to file additional briefs on behalf of the Energy Department.
The judge also wants to review a pending motion by the state of South Carolina due by the end of this month to transfer the case back to South Carolina, where a federal judge earlier ordered the plutonium be removed from the Savannah River nuclear weapon refining complex by Jan. 1, 2020.
Read more: https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/crime/no-ruling-for-now-on-nevada-bid-to-block-plutonium-shipments/
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