Court upholds challenge to NRC ruling on reactor storage site

Washington (Platts)--2Jun2006

The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Friday ruled partly in favor of two
groups who had challenged the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's approval of
an onsite spent fuel cask storage facility at Pacific Gas & Electric's Diablo
Canyon nuclear plant in California.

The advocacy groups, San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace and the Santa
Lucia chapter of the Sierra Club, joined by one local California citizen,
argued that NRC violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to
consider the environmental consequences of a potential terrorist attack on the
plant in conducting its environmental review.

The court rejected NRC's argument that the possibility of terrorist
attack is so unlikely that it does not need to consider a "worse-case"
analysis in an environmental review and ordered the agency to reconsider its
NEPA analysis.

But the appeals court denied the groups' claims that NRC violated Atomic
Energy Act and Administrative Procedure Act requirements.

For similar news, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at
http://nucweek.platts.com.


 

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