The case examines whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has the authority to grant a license to Interim Storage Partners, Inc., to proceed with plans to construct a storage facility in West Texas. The NRC has also approved a license for a group that intends to build a similar project deep underground in southeastern New Mexico.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday debated how to dispose of the nation’s nuclear waste as Texas tried to convince the justices to block a storage site near the state’s border with New Mexico. Texas and a Texas-based oil and gas extraction organization argued the Nuclear Regulatory Commission lacked the authority to approve a site to store up to 5,

The case centers around the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) decision to grant a license to Interim Storage Partners (ISP) for the construction of a temporary nuclear waste storage facility in Andrews County,

The justices heard arguments in a dispute over a federal license for a private waste storage facility planned in Texas.

"Yucca Mountain was supposed to be the permanent solution," said Justice Neil Gorsuch during the Supreme Court hearing Wednesday.