Nation IN BRIEF : MASSACHUSETTS : Nuclear Plant Held Still Safe to Operate

Yankee Rowe, the nation’s oldest nuclear power plant, may continue operating until next spring, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said. The panel did order the Yankee Atomic Electric Co., which runs the plant, to produce by Aug. 26 a detailed plan for improving safety. The decision was a response to a petition from the Union of Concerned Scientists and the New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution. The two groups alleged that the 30-year-old reactor’s steel housing has become brittle from years of neutron bombardment and could burst.