The Nuclear Regulatory Commission rejected a bid today by watchdog groups to delay construction of two new reactors at the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia.

The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Friends of the Earth and seven other groups say NRC in February illegally approved the license for Southern Co. to build the two $14 billion reactors without fully considering lessons from the nuclear crisis in Japan.

A magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami crippled Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March 2010, triggering explosions and radioactive leaks.

The five-member NRC unanimously denied the groups' request to halt construction of the reactors until a federal appeals court ruled on their demand for more environmental analyses. Southern is now building the reactors near Waynesboro.

The groups have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the reactor design that Southern is using at Vogtle and to reverse NRC's decision to grant a license to build the new units.

NRC voted 4-1 in February to approve a license for Southern to build the reactors (E&ENews PM, Feb. 9). NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko opposed the license, saying the commission has no way of knowing whether Southern will make safety upgrades stemming from the Japanese accident.

The groups say NRC is violating the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to address Fukushima-related safety changes (E&ENews PM, Feb. 8).

Diane Curran, an attorney representing the groups, said the courts are still reviewing their objections and the case could take up to a year to wrap up. In the meantime, construction should not continue, she said.

The groups vowed in a joint statement today to ask the same federal appeals court to delay construction of the reactors. The groups will argue that the design of the reactors or safety elements for the Vogtle plant could change if the courts decide Fukushima-related safety implications should have been considered before NRC approved Southern's license, she said.

"If we win the case, we're going to get a new environmental impact statement that's talking about things that could affect the construction of the Vogtle plant," Curran said.

Curran added that Jaczko's decision to deny the groups' contentions today does not jibe with his earlier opposition to Southern's license over Fukushima-related safety concerns.

"From our point of view, it is somewhat inconsistent with the view that he took in his February decision, where he said these retrofits should have been considered," she said. "If they had forced the company to make these changes before they started operating, then I'm not sure we'd be in court right now."

Steve Higginbottom, a spokesman for Southern, said the NRC thoroughly analyzed the Vogtle reactors before approving the license and complied with all federal regulatory requirements, including a review of severe accidents, earthquakes, tsunamis and floods. "The groups' criticisms of the NRC's order is unfounded," Higginbottom said in a statement.

Higginbottom also noted that an internal NRC licensing board has dismissed similar contentions, and both the reactor design and the Vogtle reactors "already met most" of the post-Fukushima safety recommendations that an NRC task force proposed last year. "An extended stay would increase costs for the project, directly impacting Georgia Power customers, and put thousands of jobs at risk," he said.