Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Opinion for the court filed by Senior Circuit Judge EDWARDS.

EDWARDS, Senior Circuit Judge:

In December 1974, Tennessee Valley Authority (“TVA”) received construction permits from the Atomic Energy Commission, the predecessor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“the NRC” or “the Commission”), for the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 (“the units”). TVA pursued construction under a series of permit extensions through the late 1980s, when, based on its projections of diminished energy demand, it decided to place the units in “deferred status” and establish a maintenance program under the…