Appeals court puts off ruling on Yucca Mountain

(AP) WASHINGTON - An appeals court has put off deciding whether to force the government to act on a license for a proposed nuclear waste dump in Nevada.

A U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia panel won’t rule before year’s end on whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must act on a license for the Yucca Mountain site.

The dump’s supporters argue NRC broke the law last fall by letting the Obama administration move to close the site. The NRC cited "budgetary limitations" imposed by Congress in approving the shutdown.

The court on Friday ordered updates by Dec. 14 about congressional action on the commission’s budget for 2013.

Judges Merrick Garland, a Democratic appointee, and Brett Kavanaugh, a Republican appointee, supported the delay. Judge A. Raymond Randolph, a Republican appointee, dissented.