Enviros Groups' Challenge to Reactor Project Faces Uphill Path at NRC

"The debate over how best to meet the nation's 'clean energy' goals moves today to an unusual venue: the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The five NRC commissioners are scheduled to announce a decision on a challenge raised by the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth against two proposed nuclear reactors planned for the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station in Fairfield County, S.C.

The two environmental activist organizations contend that the project's sponsors -- South Carolina Electric and Gas Co. (SCE&G) and the South Carolina Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper) -- did not seriously consider 'greener' alternatives to the proposed reactors, such as offshore wind and demand response programs. And that violates the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which the NRC is obliged to uphold, the Sierra Club and FOE insist."

Peter Behr reports for ClimateWire August 27, 2010.

SEE ALSO:

"Nuclear Fuel Facility in SC Moves Ahead" (WFAE)

"Iran To Fire up First Nuclear Power Plant Next Week" (AFP)