Story Category: Public Works And Energy »

A five-member panel appointed by President Obama to oversee the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recommended the agency not make any final decisions on 22 nuclear reactor projects, including Calvert Cliffs 3, a spokesman for the NRC reported.

According to NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan the oversight commission’s action is in response to a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that the agency “had violated the National Environmental Policy Act in issuing its 2010 update to the ‘Waste Confidence Decision’ and accompanying Temporary Storage Rule.”

Sheehan explained that while NRC officials have not yet determined how they will respond to the court, the agency “will not issue licenses dependent upon the Waste Confidence Decision or the Temporary Storage Rule until the court’s remand is appropriately addressed. This determination extends just to final license issuance; all licensing reviews and proceedings should continue to move forward.”

Sheehan further explained that NRC staff reviews of the new reactor and license renewal applications “can continue, but no final decisions will be rendered on them until the spent nuclear fuel storage issues are resolved.”

In its order, the oversight panel affirmed, “the public will be afforded an opportunity to comment in advance on any generic waste confidence document that the NRC issues on remand.”

Opponents of nuclear power expansion have continuously expressed concern about strategies for disposing of spent nuclear fuel. At Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby the spent fuel is stored on site in casks.

Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com