New York Nuclear Plant Gets New Setback in License Quest

WASHINGTON — The Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Board on Friday vacated another Nuclear Regulatory Commission panel’s decision to go forward with a full-power license for the Shoreham nuclear power plant on Long Island, N.Y.

The appeal board found that the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board did not have the authority to remove state and local governments as intervenors in a case before a different panel, NRC spokesman John Kopeck said.

Friday’s ruling “reverses that and at the same time, says all outstanding emergency planning issues have not been resolved,” Kopeck said. “Thus, the full-power license authorization does not exist and that authorization must be vacated.”

Jim Lois, a spokesman for the Long Island Lighting Co., which owns the embattled $5.3-billion plant, said the company will appeal Friday’s ruling.

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, in a ruling Sept. 23, eliminated New York state, Suffolk County and the town of Southampton as intervenors in a case involving an emergency evacuation drill conducted earlier this year. The panel also found that there was reasonable assurance that the public’s safety could be protected in the event of an accident at the reactor.

Current federal regulation prevents the NRC from issuing a full-power license to a nuclear plant unless there is an emergency plan that gives reasonable assurance the public will be safe if an accident occurs.