Dive Summary:

• The U.S. Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) might void a rule granting public hearings before a nuclear plant restart, which played a major part in the permanent closing of Southern California Edison’s San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) earlier this June.
• Before SONGS closed, the NRC’s Atomic Safety Licensing Board ruled there should be public hearings before the NRC approve any restart plan.
• But the NRC is closely allied with the companies they are regulating, argues environmentalist group Friends of the Earth (FOE). “That’s why they want to vacate this order,” says FOE member, Kendra Ulrich .“They want to make sure that this very comfortable relationship that they have established is maintained.”

From the article:
“The NRC did not respond to questions about the motion to vacate the ruling. Voiding the ruling will not change the decision to shut down San Onofre but it could affect communities in other states such as Ohio, which is seeking more transparency from the nuclear industry. “