[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 153 (Thursday, August 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44877-44878]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15557]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 70-3098-MLA; ASLBP No.: 07-856-02-MLA-BD01]
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board; In the Matter of Shaw Areva
MOX Services (Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility); Notice of Oral
Argument and of Opportunity To Make Limited Appearance Statements
August 3, 2007.
Before Administrative Judges: Michael C. Farrar, Chairman, Nicholas G.
Trikouros, Lawrence G. McDade.
This proceeding involves the September 2006 application of Shaw
AREVA MOX Services (MOX Services, or Applicant) for a license to
possess and use byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials at the
Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Department of
Energy's Savannah River Site, which lies south of Aiken, South
Carolina, and extends to the Georgia border. This Atomic Safety and
Licensing Board hereby gives NOTICE that it will, on Wednesday, August
22, 2007, in Augusta, Georgia, be hearing oral argument from the formal
participants in the proceeding regarding the petition to intervene that
has been submitted by three organizations. Information about that oral
argument appears in Section A below.
In addition, the Board gives notice that, in accordance with 10 CFR
2.315(a), it will entertain oral ``limited appearance'' statements from
members of the public in North Augusta, South Carolina, on the evening
of Tuesday, August 21, 2007. Information about these statements appears
in Section B below.
This matter began on March 15, 2007, when the Commission published
a notice of acceptance for docketing of the MOX Services license
application and a notice of opportunity to request a hearing on the
application. 72 FR 12,204 (Mar. 15, 2007). Thereafter, a ``Petition for
Intervention and Request for Hearing'' (hereinafter Petition) was
timely filed on May 14, 2007, by a group of three organizations
(collectively, Petitioners): The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense
League (BREDL), Nuclear Watch South (NWS),\1\ and the Nuclear
Information Service (NIRS).
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\1\ Nuclear Watch South was previously known as Georgians
Against Nuclear Energy (GANE) and participated in the prior
proceeding related to this facility under that name.
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On June 5, 2007, this Atomic Safety and Licensing Board was
established to conduct this adjudication.\2\ As part of that process,
this Board will now hear oral argument on the standing of the
Petitioners to intervene in this proceeding and on the admissibility of
the five contentions they submitted as part of the petition to
intervene.
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\2\ 72 FR 32,139 (June 11, 2007). The Board was subsequently
reconstituted, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.313(c), due to the
unavailability of one of the judges. 72 FR 40,344 (July 24, 2007).
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A. Nature, Timing, and Location of Oral Argument
The oral argument is currently scheduled to cover two categories of
issues: Standing and contention admissibility. The Petitioners have
claimed representational standing on behalf of their members who reside
within 50 miles of the proposed facility, a claim that is disputed by
the Applicant and by the NRC Staff. The Petitioners have also submitted
five contentions, which they list in summary as follows:
(1) Whether MOX Services' License Application and/or EIS meet
the relevant requirements in the National Environmental Policy Act
and/or the Clean Air Act because of failures to address critical
aspects regarding limits on emissions of hazardous air pollutants
necessary for the protection of public health and safety;
(2) Whether MOX Services License Application meets the relevant
requirements of the Atomic Energy Act because of its failure to
prepare and submit an emergency plan to the NRC for potential
radioactive releases to the public;
(3) Whether the Final Environmental Impact Statement on the
construction and operation of a plutonium fuel factory is adequate
to satisfy the requirements of NEPA and NRC implementing regulations
because it fails to address new and significant information showing
that neither MOX Services nor the U.S. Department of Energy
(``DOE'') has any concrete plans for the Waste Solidification
Building (``WSB'') that was proposed in the EIS and, as a result,
high-alpha liquid waste from the proposed facility may have to be
stored onsite posing hazards which have not been addressed by the
NRC in the EIS;
(4) Whether the License Application for the proposed plutonium
processing facility is inadequate because it does not address safety
and public health risks posed by indefinite storage of liquid high-
alpha waste at the site or contain measures for the safe storage of
that waste; and
(5) Whether the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the
proposed plutonium processing facility meets the relevant
requirements of NEPA because it does not evaluate the environmental
impacts of a terrorist attack on the proposed factory.
Petition at 5-6. The Board will hear argument from counsel for the
Applicant and for the NRC Staff and from pro se representatives of the
Petitioners regarding the Petitioners' standing claim and the
admissibility of these contentions under 10 CFR 2.309(f)(1).
The specific date, time, and location of the oral argument is as
follows:
Dates: Wednesday, August 22, 2007.
Location: Courtroom 2 (Second Floor), Augusta Federal
Courthouse, 600 James Brown Blvd., Augusta, Georgia 30901.
Time: 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m (EDT).
Members of the public are welcome to attend the oral argument as
spectators (this session is a formal adjudicatory proceeding open to
public observation but not to public participation those who wish to
participate in other aspects are invited to offer limited appearance
statements as provided in Section B, below.) Conduct of members of the
public at NRC adjudicatory proceedings is governed by 66 FR 31,719
(June 12, 2001), an excerpt from which follows this notice. In
addition, normal federal courthouse security procedures will be
followed.
Attendees are strongly advised to arrive sufficiently early to
allow time to pass through a security screening checkpoint. Further, in
the interest of permitting prompt access to the hearing room, attendees
are requested to refrain from bringing any unnecessary hand-carried
items. (Items such as packages, briefcases, and backpacks may need to
be examined individually, and items that could readily be used as
weapons will not be permitted in the hearing room.) There will be no
facilities available for storing any items outside the hearing room,
and attendees with items requiring inspection may be delayed in
obtaining entry.
B. Oral Limited Appearance Statement Session
1. Date, Time, and Location
The Board will conduct a session to provide members of the public
with an opportunity to make oral limited appearance statements on the
following date at the specified location and time:
Dates: Tuesday, August 21, 2007.
[[Page 44878]]
Location: Banquet Room A-2, North Augusta Community Center, 495
Brookside Avenue, North Augusta, South Carolina 29861.
Time: 5-8 p.m. (EDT).
2. Participation Guidelines for Oral Limited Appearance Statements
Any person not party to the proceeding has the opportunity, as
specified below, to make an oral statement setting forth his or her
position on matters of concern relating to this proceeding. These
statements will be transcribed and will become part of the record of
the proceeding for future reference, and they may ( if focused on the
contentions under consideration--assist the Board in formulating
questions to ask the parties during oral argument or prompt the parties
to address particular matters at the argument or in some other fashion.
They do not, however, constitute evidence upon which a decision may be
based.
Oral limited appearance statements will be entertained during the
hours specified above, although a lesser time period may be sufficient
to accommodate the speakers who are present. If all scheduled and
unscheduled speakers present at a session have made a presentation, the
Licensing Board reserves the right to terminate the session before the
ending time listed above.
In order to accommodate as many speakers as feasible, the time
allotted for each statement normally will be no more than three
minutes, and speakers should prepare accordingly. That time limit may
be altered, depending on the number of written requests that are
submitted in accordance with subsection 3 below, and/or the number of
persons present at the designated time. The same security guidelines
applicable to the oral argument will be applicable to the limited
appearance session as well, although limited appearance sessions are
not deemed to be ``adjudicatory proceedings'' within the meaning of
those guidelines.
3. Submitting a Request to Make an Oral Limited Appearance Statement
Persons wishing to make an oral statement who have submitted a
timely written request to do so will be given priority over those who
have not filed such a request. In order to be considered timely for
priority purposes, a written request to make an oral statement must be
mailed, faxed, or sent by e-mail so as to be received at NRC
Headquarters by noon, EDT on Friday, August 17, 2007. In light of
possible mail delivery delays, persons able to do so may wish to use
fax or e-mail to assure that their requests are timely received.
These written requests to make an oral statement are to be
submitted in one of the following fashions:
Mail: Office of the Secretary, Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Fax: (301) 415-1101 (verification (301) 415-1966).
E-mail: [email protected].
In addition, using the same method of service, a copy of the
request must be sent to the Licensing Board as follows:
Mail: MOX Limited Appearance Box, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
Panel, Mail Stop T-3F23, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Fax: (301) 415-5599 (verification (301) 415-7550).
E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected].
Phone requests to make limited appearance statements will not be
accepted.
4. Submitting Written Limited Appearance Statements
A written limited appearance statement (in lieu of or in addition
to an oral presentation) may be submitted at any time. Such statements
should be sent to the Office of the Secretary using the methods
prescribed above, with a copy to the Licensing Board as noted above.
* * * * * * * *
Documents relating to the MOX facility license application at issue
in this proceeding are on file at the Commission's Public Document Room
(PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first
floor), Rockville, Maryland 20850, and may also be obtained
electronically through ADAMS, the Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System, accessible through the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to
ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located
therein should contact the PDR reference staff by telephone at 800-397-
4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected].
Any updated/revised scheduling information regarding the oral
argument or the limited appearance session can be found on the NRC Web
site at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm.
For the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.
Rockville, Maryland, August 3, 2007.
Michael C. Farrar,
Chairman, Administrative Judge,
Copies of this notice were sent this date by Internet e-mail
transmission to (1) Counsel for Applicant Shaw AREVA MOX Services and
for the NRC Staff; and (2) each of the individuals who entered an
appearance on behalf of Petitioners Blue Ridge Environmental Defense
League (BREDL), Nuclear Watch South (NWS), and the Nuclear Information
Service (NIRS).
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Excerpt from Federal Register notice published on June 12, 2001 (66
FR 31,719):
In order to balance the orderly conduct of government business
with the right of free speech, the following procedures regarding
attendance at NRC public meetings and hearings have been
established:
Visitors (other than properly identified Congressional, press,
and government personnel) may be subject to personnel screening,
such as passing through metal detectors and inspecting visitors'
briefcases, packages, etc.
Signs, banners, posters and displays will be prohibited from all
NRC adjudicatory proceedings (Commission and Atomic Safety and
Licensing Board Panel hearings) because they are disruptive to the
conduct of the adjudicatory process. Signs, banners, posters and
displays not larger than 18'' x 18'' will be permitted at all other
NRC proceedings, but cannot be waved, held over one's head or
generally moved about while in the meeting room. Signs, banners,
posters and displays larger than 18'' x 18'' will not be permitted
in the meeting room because they are disruptive both to the
participants and the audience. Additionally, signs, banners,
posters, and displays affixed to any sticks, poles or other similar
devices will not be permitted in the meeting room.
The presiding official will note, on the record, any disruptive
behavior and warn the person to cease the behavior. If the person
does not cease the behavior, the presiding official may call a brief
recess to restore order and/or ask one of the security personnel on
hand to remove the person.
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[FR Doc. E7-15557 Filed 8-8-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P