Twelve groups said on Feb. 16 that they are filing action in federal court again the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in regards to the Plant Vogtle license issued to a Southern Co.-led (NYSE: SO) consortium on Feb. 9, 2012.

The groups said the NRC is violating federal law by issuing the Vogtle license without considering important public safety and environmental implications in the wake of the catastrophic Fukushima accident in Japan. They will ask federal judges to order the NRC to prepare a new environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed Vogtle reactors that explains how cooling systems for the reactors and spent fuel storage pools will be upgraded to protect against earthquakes, flooding and prolonged loss of electric power to the site.

The organizations are filing the lawsuit Feb. 16 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The 12 organizations taking the legal action are: the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Friends of the Earth, Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team, Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Center for a Sustainable Coast, Citizens Allied for Safe Energy, Concerned Citizens of Shell Bluff, Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions, Mothers Against Tennessee River Radiation, North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and Nuclear Watch South.

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