[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