CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Suit Seeks to Halt Rancho Seco Closure

A lawsuit filed in Sacramento Superior Court seeks to halt the decommissioning of the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant until effects of the shutdown on the environment are determined. The suit contends that closing the plant will worsen air pollution in the Central Valley because of the need for gas-fired plants and other sources to replace Rancho Seco’s power generation. The suit was filed on behalf of UC Davis radiobiology professor Marvin Goldman, Daniel St. Croix, a nuclear licensing consultant, and David Freeman, a nuclear physics student at Davis. Closing the plant, the suit said, “will cause significant incremental emissions of carbon dioxide, other gases and particulate matter, all of which are injurious to health, and which will accelerate the ‘greenhouse effect,’ lead to ‘acid rain’ and may have other serious adverse environmental effects.” Meanwhile, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District will continue to decommission the plant as required by a ratepayers’ vote last June to close the facility.