The U.S. Supreme Court was hearing arguments on Wednesday on whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has the authority to license nuclear waste storage facilities amid objections brought by the states of Texas and New Mexico as well as the oil industry.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a decades-old fight that tends to put Americans on edge even more than politics: Where to store the nation’s spent nuclear fuel.

The US Supreme Court appeared divided over whether Texas and companies that own land in the oil rich Permian Basin had the right to challenge a federal plan to let as much as 40,000 tons of highly radioactive waste be temporarily stored at a privately owned off-site facility.

The US Supreme Court’s dive Wednesday into the seemingly straightforward question of who can challenge an agency decision on storing highly radioactive nuclear waste could have significant implications for federal regulatory power.

The U.S. Supreme Court debates the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's authority to license nuclear waste storage, amid opposition from Texas and New Mexico. The case addresses the balance of federal regulatory power,

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

The justices will hear arguments Wednesday on whether federal regulators can authorize temporary waste storage far from nuclear power plants.

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's authority to license nuclear waste storage facilities. This comes after Texas, New Mexico, and the oil industry challenged a license granted to a company for a facility in Texas.

The case could establish the nation’s first independent repository for spent nuclear fuel in West Texas, despite the objections of state leaders.