The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has directed its staff to revise within 24 months a key nuclear-waste rule and develop a general environmental impact statement in response to a recent federal court ruling.

The regulation deals with "waste confidence," a generic finding that spent nuclear fuel can be stored for decades beyond a reactor's licensed operating life without significant environmental harm. NRC says the rule enables it to license or renew the license of a reactor without examining the effects of extended waste storage at the individual site.