Florida Power & Light Co. v. Lorion, Dba Center for Nuclear Responsibility, et al. (470 U.S. 729)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 20, 1985 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 470 U.S. 729 · 105 S. Ct. 1598
- Decided
- March 20, 1985
- Term
- October Term 1984
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice Brennan
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Brennan delivered the opinion of the Court. These cases require us to decide whether 28 U. S. C. §2342(4) and 42 U. S. C. §2239 grant the federal courts of appeals exclusive subject-matter jurisdiction initially to review decisions of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to deny citizen petitions requesting that the Commission “institute a proceeding ... to modify, suspend or revoke a license_” 10 CFR § 2.206(a) (1984). Respondent Joette Lorion, on behalf of the Center for Nuclear Responsibility, wrote the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on September 11, 1981, to express fears about potential safety threats at petitioner Florida Power and Light Company’s Turkey Point nuclear reactor near her home outside Miami, Florida. Her detailed letter urged the Commission to suspend Turkey Point’s operating license and specified several reasons for such action. The Commission treated Lorion’s letter as a citizen petition for enforcement action pursuant to the authority of § 2.206 of the Commission’s rules of practice. This rule provides: “Any person may file a request for the Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation ... to institute a proceeding pursuant to [10 CFR] §2.202 to modify, suspend or revoke a license, or for such other action as may be proper. . . . The requests shall specify the action requested and set forth the facts that constitute the basis for the request.” 10 CFR §…
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