Could Georgia ruling by U.S. NRC panel impact Turkey Point 6 & 7 reactors?

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ruled that an application to build more nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Georgia, was incomplete because it had not taken into adequate consideration management of radioactive nuclear waste when the new reactors begin operation.

For Miami-Dade citizens and environmental groups still hoping to block the contruction of additional nuclear units 6 & 7 at the Turkey Point power plant near Homestead, the US NRC panel's ruling may be significant.

According to a press release issued today by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE):

By admitting the radioactive waste contention, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing board agreed that the impacts of storing nuclear waste on-site at Plant Vogtle must be studied, as an off-site storage site may not be available when needed.

The SACE release also noted that:

A long-term storage plan must be developed before the federal agency can issue a permit to build the proposed nuclear reactors. This ruling represents another small victory to prevent environmental damage from the proposed addition of two more reactors at Southern Company’s Plant Vogtle along the Savannah River, near Augusta, Ga.

SACE said that the three-judge panel's ruling comes as a result of a Nov. 2008 petition filed by the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Center for a Sustainable Coast, Georgia WAND (formerly Atlanta WAND), Savannah Riverkeeper and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy on behalf of the groups' members with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The groups are represented by The Emory University School of Law’s Turner Environmental Law Clinic and Diane Curran, a Washington, D.C. attorney.

The full SACE press release about the NRC panel's ruling is available online, here.