July 9 (Bloomberg) -- A federal appeals court ruled in favor of the government's plan to build a storage facility for nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington rejected the state of Nevada's challenge to the resolution approving Yucca Mountain. The judges said the court couldn't review the actions of the president and Energy Department that led to the choice because the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing requirements had been followed.

In their 100-page ruling, the judges sided with the state on the federal government's plan to protect the public from nuclear waste for 10,000 years.

``Radioactive waste and its harmful consequences persist for time spans seemingly beyond human comprehension,'' the judges wrote. The court ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to review its standard for protecting the public or seek new legislation. Congress passed a resolution approving the Yucca Mountain site in 2002.

The case is Nuclear Energy Institute Inc. v. Environmental Protection Agency, Cr. No. 01-1258, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

To contact the reporter on this story: Timothy W. Doyle in Washington at at tdoyle8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 9, 2004 14:29 EDT