미국 국가환경정책법(NEPA)에 따른 환경영향평가와 사법심사의 역할:원자력발전 관련 사례를 중심으로

Human activities in the last few centuries have begun to erode the natural environment, disrupting Earth’s ecological systems. With growing concerns about ecological well-being, and increased appreciation for the environment, US Congress enacted the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). NEPA’s focus is disclosure of environmental risks, so that the governmental agencies undertaking various projects consider environmental factors in their decision-making and share such information with the public. Nuclear materials and nuclear facilities can potentially pose lethal risks and impacts. Therefore, in order to clearly balance the interests of the public and the government, courts should provide uniform direction under NEPA and make judgments based on a more scientific method in four areas of uncertainty: long-term storage and radioactive leakage of spent nuclear fuel related to nuclear power generation, nuclear meltdown, terrorist attacks. The court should respect the scientific conclusions of the agency but require the agency to demonstrate its expertise through a more complete discussion of the relevant science. Furthermore, even if there is insufficient causality between the agency's actions and specific impacts, this should not be ignored, and environmental impact assessment analysis is still necessary.