"3 States Challenge Federal Policy on Storing Nuclear Waste"

"The attorneys general of New York, Connecticut and Vermont sued the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday, challenging a new commission policy stating that nuclear waste can be safely stored at a nuclear power plant for 60 years after a reactor goes out of service.

The three states argued that the policy, adopted in December, violated two federal laws requiring that a full environmental review be carried out at each nuclear site before permission for long-term storage could be granted.

'Our communities deserve a thorough review of the environmental, public health and safety risks such a move would present,' New York's attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, said in a statement."

Matthew L. Wald reports for the New York Times February 15, 2011.