Connecticut is teaming up with New York and Vermont to sue federal regulators over their decision to allow nuclear power plants to store waste for up to 60 years. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission previously had a 30-year limit on storage.
Attorney General George Jepsen says the decision was made without fully understanding the long term affects such an increase will have on communities.
Millstone 2 and Millstone 3 in Waterford are the state's only two operational nuclear plants. The Millstone 1 site in Waterford and the Connecticut Yankee facility in Haddam have both been decommissioned, but all four of the sites store spent fuel.
Jepsen says leaks at the Indian Point Reactor in New York as well as the Vermont Yankee Reactor allowed small amounts of nuclear material to seep into the groundwater.
Connecticut and the other states are seeking a review of the extension and say that an environmental impact study needs to be done.
The petition will be heard in the D.C. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
