Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- [Docket Nos. 50-247-LR and 50-286-LR; ASLBP No. 07-858-03-LR-BD01]
Before Administrative Judges: Lawrence G. McDade, Chairman, Dr. Michael F. Kennedy, Dr. Richard E. Wardwell.
This proceeding arises out of the April 23, 2007, application of Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy) to renew its operating licenses for Indian Point Nuclear Generating Units 2 and 3 (Operating License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64) at its Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, New York. Entergy seeks to extend these licenses for an additional twenty years beyond the current expiration dates of September 9, 2013 (Indian Point Unit 2) and December 12, 2015 (Indian Point Unit 3). On August 1, 2007, the Commission published a notice of opportunity to request a hearing on Entergy's license renewal application.[1] Requests for hearings and petitions to intervene were filed by sixteen entities: The State of New York (New York); the State of Connecticut (Connecticut); Westchester County, New York (Westchester); the Town of Cortlandt, New York (Cortlandt); the Village of Buchanan, New York (Buchanan); the City of New York (New York City); the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance; Friends United for Sustainable Energy; Hudson River Sloop Clearwater (Clearwater); Connecticut Residents Opposed to Relicensing Indian Point; Westchester Citizen Awareness Network; Rockland County Conservation Association; Sierra Club—Atlantic Chapter; Assemblyman Richard Brodsky; Public Health and Sustainable Energy; and Riverkeeper, Inc. (Riverkeeper). On October 18, 2007, this Atomic Safety and Licensing Board was established to conduct this adjudication.[2]
On July 31, 2008, this Board issued a memorandum and order in which it (a) granted the hearing requests of three entities: New York, Riverkeeper, and Clearwater; (b) admitted thirteen contentions; and (c) granted interested governmental entity status to Connecticut, Westchester, and the Town of Cortlandt.[3] On December 18, 2008, we granted interested governmental entity status to New York City and Buchanan.[4] Since our original order granting hearing requests, we have admitted several new and/or amended ( printed page 36016) contentions filed against Entergy's license renewal application and the NRC Staff's environmental review of that application, and consolidated some of these contentions with pre-existing contentions.[5] We have also summarily disposed of two contentions in favor of New York [6] and approved of the settlement of one contention.[7]
The NRC Staff issued its final Safety Evaluation Report (SER) in November 2009 [8] and a first supplemental SER in August 2011.[9] The NRC Staff issued its draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) in December 2008 [10] and its final SEIS in December 2010.[11] The NRC Staff has indicated that it intends to issue a second supplemental SER in August 2012 and a second draft SEIS in July 2012, with a final version to follow.[12]
In light of the foregoing, an evidentiary hearing will be conducted in this proceeding pursuant to Section 189(a) of the Atomic Energy Act, 42 U.S.C. 2239(a). Subject to a Board determination regarding any request to employ hearing procedures under 10 CFR part 2, Subpart G, the evidentiary hearing on all admitted contentions will be governed by the hearing procedures set forth in 10 CFR part 2, Subpart L, 10 CFR 2.1200-2.1213.[13]
42 U.S.C. 2239(a)
10 CFR part 2, Subpart GParties to this proceeding (including the NRC Staff) have begun to provide evidentiary submissions in support of or in opposition to the merits of the admitted contentions.[14] The Board intends to begin taking oral testimony on October 15, 2012, in Westchester County, New York. We anticipate addressing the admitted contentions in the following order:
1. NYS-12C
2. NYS-16B
3. RK-TC-2
4. NYS-17B
5. NYS-37
6. NYS-5
7. NYS-8
8. NYS-6/7
9. CW-EC-3A
10. RK-EC-3/CW-EC-1 [15]
We anticipate that the hearing will continue on October 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, and 24. Current plans tentatively call for the hearing to convene again on December 10 and run through December 14 as needed. Due to the proprietary nature of some information discussed in the evidentiary submissions associated with contentions NYS-6/7 and RK-TC-2, the Board may be required to close portions of the oral hearing on those contentions from public viewing.
Despite the NRC Staff's ongoing safety and environmental reviews, and because it has received no objections in light of 10 CFR 2.332(d) from the participants in this proceeding, the Board has tentatively decided that it is efficient to proceed to the evidentiary hearing before issuance of the NRC's additional environmental and safety review documents. This decision is based on our understanding that the NRC's recent draft SEIS will not address any issue raised in any contention other than RC-EC-8 and that the second supplemental SER will not address any issue raised in any contention other than NYS-25 and those portions of NYS-38/RK-TC-5 that have previously been defined.[16] As noted above, at footnote 15, we issued an Order on June 7, 2012, seeking input from the parties on these assumptions. The Board will notify the parties if our plans to proceed to hearing in October 2012 on the ten contentions listed above change based on the parties' responses to that order. After the NRC's additional safety and environmental documents have issued, the Board will provide a schedule on how it will hear all remaining contentions.
As provided in 10 CFR 2.315(a), any person not a party to the proceeding may submit a written limited appearance statement setting forth his or her position on the issues in this proceeding. These statements do not constitute evidence but may assist the Board and/or parties in defining the issues being considered. Persons wishing to submit a written limited appearance statement should send it to the Office of the Secretary by one of the methods prescribed below:
Mail to: Office of the Secretary, Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Fax to: (301) 415-1101 (verification (301) 415-1966). ( printed page 36017)
Email to:hearing.docket@nrc.gov.
In addition, a copy of the limited appearance statement should be sent to the Licensing Board by one of the methods below:
Mail to: Administrative Judge Lawrence G. McDade, c/o Anne Siarnacki, Law Clerk, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, Mail Stop T-3F23, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Fax to: (301) 415-5599 (verification (301) 415-7550).
Email to:anne.siarnacki@nrc.gov.
The deadline for this Board's receipt of written limited appearance statements will be September 15, 2012. This will be the sole method for providing limited appearance statements.
Documents relating to this proceeding are available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room or electronically from the publicly available records component of NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room). Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by email at pdr@nrc.gov.
June 8, 2012.
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.htmlDated: June 8, 2012.
For the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.
Lawrence G. McDade,
Chairman, Administrative Judge, Rockville, Maryland.