NRC press release:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Press Release
No: 19-003 January 11, 2019
CONTACT: David McIntyre, 301-415-8200
A Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will hear oral arguments in Albuquerque, N.M., in late January on petitions to hold an adjudicatory hearing concerning an application by Holtec International to construct and operate a consolidated interim spent fuel storage facility in the state.
The arguments will be heard Jan. 23 beginning at 9 a.m., and, if necessary, Jan. 24, at the State Bar of New Mexico, 5121 Masthead St. NE, in Albuquerque. The arguments will address the standing of petitioners and the admissibility of their proposed contentions. The three administrative judges on the Board will hear arguments from counsel for the following eight groups: Beyond Nuclear; Sierra Club; Alliance for Environmental Strategies; a coalition of Don’t Waste Michigan, Citizens’ Environmental Coalition, Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, Nuclear Energy Information Service, Public Citizen, San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, and Nuclear Issues Study Group; NAC International; Fasken Land and Minerals and Permian Basin Land and Royalty Owners; Holtec International; and the NRC staff.
The Board will also reserve time for comments from a single representative from each of five interested local government petitioners: the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, the city of Carlsbad, Lea County, Eddy County, and the city of Hobbs.
The hearings will be open to the public. Signs, banners, posters, demonstrations and displays will not be permitted by NRC policy.
The Board is composed of three administrative judges from the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel. Boards may conduct adjudicative hearings on major licensing actions by the NRC, and are independent of the NRC staff. A Board’s rulings may be appealed to the Commission, the five-member body that sets NRC policy.