John Abbotts, Public Interest Research Group, Natural Resources Defense Council v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge TAMM.

TAMM, Circuit Judge.

Petitioner Nuclear Regulatory Commission appeals from an order of the district court requiring the Commission 1 to disclose information pertaining to the protection of nuclear facilities against terrorist attack. Because the district court improperly applied exemption 1 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), we reverse and remand with directions to enter summary judgment for the Commission.

I. Background

In 1974, the Commission began studying the possibility of recycling spent nuclear fuel for use in nuclear power…