[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 203 (Monday, October 20, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62342-62343]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-24892]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 52-014-COL and 52-015-COL; ASLBP No. 08-864-02-COL-BD01]


Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel; In the Matter of 
Tennessee Valley Authority (Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 
4); Notice of Hearing (Application for Combined Operating License)

October 14, 2008.
Before the Licensing Board: G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Chairman; Dr. 
Anthony J. Baratta; Dr. William W. Sager.

    This proceeding concerns the October 30, 2007 application of the 
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for a 10 CFR Part 52 combined 
operating license (COL). This TVA COL application seeks approval for 
the construction and operation of two new nuclear reactors on the 
existing Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant site near Scottsboro, Alabama. 
In response to a February 8, 2008 notice of hearing and opportunity to 
petition for leave to intervene, 73 FR 7611 (Feb. 8, 2008), as amended 
by Commission order on April 7, 2008, 73 id. 19,904 (Apr. 11, 2008), on 
June 6, 2008, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), the Blue 
Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL), and BREDL's Bellefonte 
Efficiency and Sustainability Team (BEST) chapter (collectively Joint 
Petitioners) filed a request for hearing and petition to intervene 
contesting the TVA COL application. On June 12, 2008, the Commission 
referred the petition to the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel to 
conduct any subsequent adjudication. On June 18, 2008, a three-member 
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board was established to preside over the 
contested portion of this COL proceeding. See 73 FR 35,714 (June 24, 
2008).\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Consistent with section 189a.(1)(A) of the Atomic Energy 
Act, 42 U.S.C. 2239(a)(1)(A), in connection with the TVA Bellefonte 
COL application the agency also must conduct a ``mandatory'' or 
``uncontested'' hearing in which it will receive evidence from TVA 
and the NRC staff regarding matters raised by the presiding officer 
concerning the conduct of the staff's safety and environmental 
reviews. During that mandatory hearing, the presiding officer will 
explore issues associated with the Bellefonte COL application that 
are not the subject of this ``contested'' proceeding regarding the 
Joint Petitioners contentions admitted for litigation, and will make 
a determination concerning the adequacy of the staff's safety and 
environmental reviews, as well as certain independent National 
Environmental Policy Act findings. See 10 CFR 52.97(a)(1). Current 
Commission policy calls for the Commission itself to conduct the 
mandatory hearing for the Bellefonte Units 3 and 4 COL application. 
See Memorandum to Luis A. Reyes, Executive Dir. for Operations, 
Karen D. Cyr, General Counsel, Frank P. Gillespie, Executive Dir., 
Advisory Comm. on Reactor Safeguards, from Annette L. Vietti-Cook, 
Secretary of the Comm'n, Staff Requirements--COMDEK-07-0001/COMJSM-
07-0001--Report of the Combined License Review Task Force at 1 (June 
22, 2007) (ADAMS Accession No. ML071760109).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On July 30, 2008, the Board conducted a one-day initial prehearing 
conference in Scottsboro, Alabama, during which it heard oral 
presentations regarding the standing of each of the Joint Petitioners, 
the timeliness of their hearing petition, and the admissibility of 
their twenty-four proffered contentions. Thereafter, in a September 12, 
2008 issuance, finding that Joint Petitioners SACE and BREDL had 
established the requisite standing to intervene in this proceeding and 
that they had timely submitted four admissible contentions concerning 
the TVA COL application, the Board admitted these two entities as 
parties to this proceeding. See Tennessee Valley Authority (Bellefonte 
Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 4), LBP-08-16, 68 NRC------ (Sept. 12, 
2008).
    In light of the foregoing, please take notice that a hearing will 
be conducted in this proceeding. Subject to any Board determination 
regarding any request to utilize formal hearing procedures under 10 CFR 
Part 2, Subpart G, see 10 CFR 2.310(d), the hearing on contested 
matters will be governed by the informal hearing procedures set forth 
in 10 CFR Part 2, Subparts C and L, 10 CFR 2.300-2.390, 2.1200-12.1213.
    During the course of this contested proceeding, the Board may 
conduct an oral argument, as provided in 10 CFR 2.331, may hold 
additional prehearing conferences pursuant to 10 CFR 2.329, and may 
conduct evidentiary hearings in accordance with 10 CFR 2.327-2.328, 
2.1206-2.1208. The public is invited to attend any oral argument, 
prehearing conference, or evidentiary hearing. Notices of those 
sessions will be published in the Federal Register and/or made 
available to the public at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), located 
at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), 
Rockville, Maryland, and through the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov.
    Additionally, as provided in 10 CFR 2.315(a), any person not a 
party to the proceeding may submit a written limited appearance 
statement. Limited appearance statements, which are placed in the 
docket for the hearing, provide members of the public with an 
opportunity to make the Board and/or the participants aware of their 
concerns about matters at issue in the proceeding. A written limited 
appearance statement can be submitted at any time and should be sent to 
the Office of the Secretary using 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).
    E-mail to: [email protected].

In addition, a copy of the limited appearance statement should be sent 
to the Licensing Board Chairman using the same method at the address 
below:
    Mail to: Administrative Judge G. Paul Bollwerk, III, 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).
    E-mail to: [email protected].

At a later date, the Board may entertain oral limited appearance 
statements at a location or locations in the vicinity of the proposed 
site for Bellefonte Units 3 and 4. Notice of any oral limited 
appearance sessions will be published in the Federal Register and/or 
made available to the public at the NRC PDR and on the NRC Web site, 
www.nrc.gov.
    Documents relating to this proceeding are available for public 
inspection at the Commission's PDR or electronically from the publicly 
available records component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is 
accessible from the NRC Web site at http://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, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to 
[email protected].
    It is so ordered.

    For the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ Copies of this notice of hearing were sent this date by the 
agency's E-Filing system to the counsel/representatives for (1) 
Applicant TVA; (2) Joint Intervenors SACE and BREDL; and (3) the 
staff.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 62343]]

    Dated: October 14, 2008.
G. Paul Bollwerk, III,
Chairman, Rockville, Maryland.
[FR Doc. E8-24892 Filed 10-17-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P