After years of warnings by environmentalists to do something about the radioactive waste piling up at nuclear power plants around the country, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has stopped issuing any licenses for new and existing reactors while it addresses the problem.

 

The decision was prompted by a recent federal court ruling that raised the matter of spent fuel rods and other radioactive materials being stored at nuclear plants on a temporary basis.

 

The NRC was counting on the waste being shipped to a national repository in Nevada. But the Obama administration canceled the controversial Yucca Mountain project, which experienced years of political delays and criticism from environmentalists and Nevada leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

 

The government must do something about the fuel rods piling up in numerous states, though, because they “pose a dangerous, long-term health and environmental risk,” according to the court.

 

The NRC’s decision to put a hold on new licenses impacts at least 19 requests by utility companies seeking to renew approval for existing reactors or to build new ones. Among plants and units affected are Bellefonte in Alabama, Watts Bar in Tennessee, and Diablo Canyon in California.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

To Learn More:

NRC Puts Nuclear Licensing Decisions on Hold (by Alan Scher Zagier, Associated Press)

Memorandum and Order (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) (pdf)

Alabama Nuclear Plant Wins Go-Ahead after 23-Year Delay (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)