A U.S. District Court Judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed
against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that pertained to exemptions to fire
insulation rules the agency granted the Indian Point nuclear plant near New
York City.
Two environmental groups and then-New York Assemblyman
Richard Brodsky brought the suit in 2007, alleging the agency skirted the
Atomic Energy Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative
Procedure Act by granting plant owner Entergy an exception to fire rules and
failing to hold a public hearing.
In 2007, the NRC granted the plant an exemption to rules
requiring that insulation surrounding electric cables controlling reactor
shutdown be able to withstand a fire for at least an hour. In 2004, the NRC
discovered Indian Point’s Hemyc insulation could only withstand a fire for 27
to 49 minutes, and the agency granted the plant an exemption to the rule.
According to courthousenews.com, Judge Loretta Preska
dismissed the suit, characterizing the exemption as lawful and saying the NRC
was not obligated to prepare a hearing or environmental impact statement. Instead,
she deferred to the NRC: "As many courts have emphasized, it is not the
role of the courts to substitute their judgment for the substantive decisions
of the commission."