United Press International – Energy – Analysis

Analysis: Nuclear waste terrorism debated
Published: June 1, 2007 at 6:39 PM

 By BEN LANDO
UPI Energy Correspondent
WASHINGTON, June 1 (UPI) — A court-mandated addition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s environmental assessment for the used-fuel storage site of California’s Diablo Canyon Power Plant hasn’t satisfied opponents who successfully took it to court. And it means utilities may have to increase preventative measures as part of such regulator assessments.

Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled the NRC should have taken terrorism into account when evaluating the environmental effects of the storage, per the National Environmental Policy Act. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the NRC’s appeal. To satisfy the lower court’s decision, the NRC in February gave staff 90 days to reassess the environmental assessment.

This week, the NRC issued a draft supplement to the environ