A Seattle law firm believes Benton County can legally challenge the Department of Energy's plans to shut down Hanford's Fast Flux Test Facility.

Now, the county is looking for other cities, organizations and cancer survivors who may want to join such a lawsuit.

Benton County commissioners plan to meet at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Fowler Building in Richland with anyone interested.

"Benton County has had a long standing position in the restart of FFTF and we're going to continue that," said Max Benitz Jr., Benton County commission chairman. "It's extremely important we look at our strategy."

The county likely wouldn't file a complaint until Jan. 15 - 30 days after an environmental study on FFTF was published in the federal register, Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Brown told commissioners during a special meeting Friday.

In November, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said the nation could meet its foreseeable needs for isotopes for years to come without the Hanford reactor. The preferred alternative is to shut down FFTF and produce isotopes in existing reactors in Idaho Falls and Tennessee.

But an attorney with Foster, Pepper & Shefelman says there are problems with DOE's environmental study that can be challenged, Brown said. Benton County hired the firm to review possible legal avenues for challenging DOE's decision.

Some of the city officials and cancer survivors who attended Friday's special meeting said they were concerned DOE used old, inconsistent information in the environmental study.

"There's an inconsistency in the reactor volume to make medical isotopes," said Larry Haler, a Richland councilman and chairman of the Hanford Communities. "I think this report is severely flawed."

Mike Fox, a Tri-City scientist, said the environmental study also fails to address the increase in demands for isotopes, which has increased 30 to 32 percent this year.