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Missouri Environmental Group Moves To Block Relicensing Of State's Only Nuclear Power Plant

Ameren's Callaway Nuclear Reactor is the only commercial nuclear power plant in Missouri.
Missouri Coalition for the Environment.
Ameren's Callaway Nuclear Reactor is the only commercial nuclear power plant in Missouri.

The Missouri Coalition for the Environment has filed a petition to intervene with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to try to keep the NRC from relicensing Ameren's Callaway Nuclear Power Plant.

Ameren's Callaway Nuclear Reactor is the only commercial nuclear power plant in Missouri.
Credit Missouri Coalition for the Environment
Ameren's Callaway Nuclear Reactor is the only commercial nuclear power plant in Missouri.

In October, the Coalition and others sued the NRC, contending that its regulations governing the long-term storage of nuclear waste do not comply with federal law.

The Coalition’s Safe Energy Director, Ed Smith, said the NRC’s licensing process doesn't take into account the health and environmental impacts of storing nuclear waste.

Smith said there’s no urgent need to extend Callaway’s license, since it doesn’t expire until 2024.

“This court legal issue will be resolved much sooner than 2024, and the NRC should let the court process unfold before making any decisions,” Smith said.

The NRC could decide whether or not to renew Ameren's license for Callaway as soon as next week.

Smith said the NRC has already indicated that it will deny the Coalition’s petition and that consequently his group intends to take legal action to block the extension of Ameren's license.

Callaway is the only commercial nuclear power plant in Missouri.

Follow Véronique LaCapra on Twitter: @KWMUScience

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Véronique LaCapra first caught the radio bug while writing commentaries for NPR affiliate WAMU in Washington, D.C. After producing her first audio pieces at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies in N.C., she was hooked! She has done ecological research in the Brazilian Pantanal; regulated pesticides for the Environmental Protection Agency in Arlington, Va.; been a freelance writer and volunteer in South Africa; and contributed radio features to the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. She earned a Ph.D. in ecosystem ecology from the University of California in Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in environmental policy and biology from Cornell. LaCapra grew up in Cambridge, Mass., and in her mother’s home town of Auxerre, France.
Véronique LaCapra
Science reporter Véronique LaCapra first caught the radio bug writing commentaries for NPR affiliate WAMU in Washington, D.C. After producing her first audio documentaries at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies in N.C., she was hooked! She has done ecological research in the Brazilian Pantanal; regulated pesticides for the Environmental Protection Agency in Arlington, Va.; been a freelance writer and volunteer in South Africa; and contributed radio features to the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. She earned a Ph.D. in ecosystem ecology from the University of California in Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in environmental policy and biology from Cornell. LaCapra grew up in Cambridge, Mass., and in her mother’s home town of Auxerre, France. LeCapra reported for St. Louis Public Radio from 2010 to 2016.