WISCASSET – Maine Yankee and anti-nuclear activists are awaiting a Nuclear Regulatory Commission report on the risks of storing spent fuel at nuclear power plants that have been taken off line.

The report could raise new questions about radiation dangers posed during a catastrophic event such as an earthquake or terrorist attack at decommissioned plants.

The NRC has been working with the nuclear power industry for the past 11/2 years on the issue of spent fuel storage at off-line plants such as Maine Yankee, where fuel rods now sit underwater in a pool.

The report could be released later this week. Despite much speculation, its contents are unclear.

“I just can’t comment on a report that’s not been released yet,” said Victor L. Dricks, a NRC spokesman in Washington, D.C.

The NRC began the new risk assessment after Maine Yankee obtained permission to reduce its off-site emergency planning. The agency agreed with Maine Yankee that any credible accident scenario would not result in a significant health risk to the public.

Anti-nuclear activists and state emergency management officials opposed the plan to eliminate emergency evacuation drills and sirens in neighboring communities to warn the public of accidents at the plant.

Eric Howes, a Maine Yankee spokesman, would not comment on the new report.

“We haven’t seen it, so it’s not fair for us to speculate on what might be in it,” he said.

But David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists and a longtime critic of nuclear power, said the report will conclude that, in the event of a catastrophe, spent nuclear fuel rods pose a greater public health risk than previously thought.

“It may be that some additional security is required around plants, and it may be that some plants are OK today,” Lochbaum said. “The first step in that is to know what the danger is, and I think this report tells us that.”

Lochbaum said he has not read the report himself, but has spoken with NRC staff about it and participated in discussions of its contents.

Kris Christine, an anti-nuclear activist who lives in Alna, said it was “outrageous” that the NRC allowed Maine Yankee to drop its off-site emergency preparedness in the first place.

“No longer do fire departments and emergency crews practice drills in the event of a radiological emergency,” she said. “Now all of sudden we’re finding that spent fuel poses more of a risk than previously believed. It’s so infuriating when you have a family and you’re concerned about their welfare.”