http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/ocean/story/7530499p-7432371c.htmlThree states join N.J. group in petitioning NRC to stop relicensings
By DAVID BENSON Staff Writer, 609-272-7206
Published: Thursday, January 24, 2008
Three states have joined a group of New Jersey citizens to challenge the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's relicensing of four nuclear plants in the Northeast, including the Oyster Creek Generating Station, over what environmental groups have called a "cut and paste" review process.
Richard Webster, an attorney with the Eastern Environmental Law Center, said it was the NRC's own Inspector General's Office, or OIG, that pointed out similarities in language in safety evaluations between power plant assessments and those of federal inspectors.
"Vermont, Connecticut and New York are supporting us in this," Webster said. "We were the instigators. We were the first to read the OIG report and realize there was a problem." Webster represents a New Jersey-based coalition of six environmental and citizen's groups called Stop the Relicensing of Oyster Creek, or STROC.
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A September audit released by the OIG found that in 76 percent of license renewals NRC investigators apparently didn't check the authenticity of safety information provided by plant operators.
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