Enviros, Attorneys General Again Sue To Stop Nuclear Plant Relicensing

"Just a week after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission began relicensing nuclear power plants, environmental groups and several states are again suing to stop it.

The latest litigation affects several utilities, including Ameren Missouri, that have been waiting for a decision from the federal regulatory agency.

The NRC had to suspend relicensing activities two years ago after political wrangling torpedoed a national repository in the Nevada desert. A federal appeals court, at the time, directed the NRC to consider the environmental impact of storing spent fuel without a national repository.

In response to the court ruling two years ago, the NRC finalized rules last month that found nuclear waste could be stored indefinitely above ground in dry casks that are replaced every 100 years. Spent nuclear fuel now is usually stored in cooling pools near reactors."

Jacob Barke reports for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch October 29, 2014.