Oregon Revised Statutes

Or. Rev. Stat. § 469.550 (2026)

Order for halt of plant operations or activities with radioactive material; notice

✓ current as of May 2026
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      469.550 Order for halt of plant operations or activities with radioactive material; notice. (1) Whenever in the judgment of the Director of the State Department of Energy from the results of monitoring or surveillance of operation of any nuclear-fueled thermal power plant or nuclear installation or based upon information from the Energy Facility Siting Council there is cause to believe that there is clear and immediate danger to the public health and safety from continued operation of the plant or installation, the director shall, in cooperation with appropriate state and federal agencies, without hearing or prior notice, order the operation of the plant halted by service of the order on the plant superintendent or other person charged with the operation thereof. Within 24 hours after such order, the director must appear in the appropriate circuit court to petition for the relief afforded under ORS 469.563 and may commence proceedings for revocation of the site certificate if grounds therefor exist.

      (2) Whenever, in the judgment of the director based upon monitoring or surveillance by the director, or based upon information from the council, there is cause to believe that there is clear and immediate danger to the public health and safety from the accumulation or storage of radioactive material located at a nuclear-fueled thermal power plant or a nuclear installation, the director shall in cooperation with appropriate state and federal agencies, without hearing or prior notice, order such accumulation, storage, disposal or transportation halted or immediately impose safety precautions by service of the order on the officer responsible for the accumulation, storage, disposal or transportation. Within 24 hours after such an order, the director must appear in the appropriate circuit court to petition for the relief afforded under ORS 469.563.

      (3)(a) If the director believes there is a clear and immediate danger to public health or safety, the director shall halt the transportation or disposal of radioactive material or waste.

      (b) The director shall serve an order to halt the transportation or disposal of radioactive material on the person responsible for the transport or disposal. The order may be served without prior hearing or notice.

      (c) Within 24 hours after the director serves an order under paragraph (b) of this subsection, the director shall petition the appropriate circuit court for relief under ORS 469.563.

      (4) The Governor, in the absence of the director, may issue orders and petition for judicial relief as provided in this section. [Formerly 453.555; 1977 c.794 §16; 1989 c.6 §3; 2003 c.186 §32]

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 1985–1991 · leading case: Forelaws on Bd. v. Energy Facility Siting Council, 760 P.2d 212 (Or. 1988).
Forelaws on Bd. v. Energy Facility Siting Council, 760 P.2d 212 (Or. 1988). “See ORS 469.550 and ORS 469.570. Petitioners’ argument that the waste should have been evaluated as of the time that it was placed in the sludge ponds relies on OAR 345-50-035(1), which provides: “The [waste] material shall be considered in the form it exists when it is removed…”
Teledyne Wah Chang Albany v. Energy Facility Siting Council, 692 P.2d 86 (Or. 1985). “Judicial relief is obtainable under ORS 469.550 and 469.570. 7 We express no opinion as to who would have the burden of proving that the sludge did or did not come within the exemption were this an enforcement proceeding by EFSC against Teledyne.”
Forelaws on Bd. v. Energy Facility Siting Council, 811 P.2d 636 (Or. 1991). “” ORS 469.550 permits the director of the Department of Energy to order the operation of some nuclear installations halted if “there is cause to believe that there is clear and immediate danger to the public health and safety from continued operation of the plant or installation.”
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