Vermont, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut are petitioning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a more thorough review of issues connected with storage of highly radioactive nuclear waste at plant sites.
Thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel are piling up at reactors like New York's Indian Point, the Vermont Yankee plant and the Pilgrim nuclear station in Massachusetts, as the federal government's 30-year-old promise to find a permanent waste site remains unfilled.
The state's petition asks the NRC to consider a broader range of possible solutions, including a possible industry-wide shut-down so no new waste is generated.
The petition comes nearly a year after a federal appeals court ruled the NRC had not adequately analyzed the risks of storing spent fuel at individual reactor sites.
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