ML071510432

LB Memorandum and Order (Initial Prehearing Order)

ML071510432
Person / Time
Site:	Susquehanna
Issue date:	05/31/2007
From:	Bollwerk G Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
To:
SECY RAS
References
07-854-01-OLA-BD01, 50-387-OLA, 50-388-OLA, RAS 13706
Download: ML071510432 (11)

Text

RAS 13706 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DOCKETED 05/31/07 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION SERVED 05/31/07 ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD PANEL Before the Licensing Board:

G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Chairman Dr. Richard F. Cole Dr. Lester S. Rubenstein In the Matter of PPL SUSQUEHANNA LLC (Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2)

Docket Nos. 50-387-OLA and 50-388-OLA ASLBP No. 07-854-01-OLA-BD01 May 31, 2007 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Initial Prehearing Order)

In the above-captioned proceeding, petitioner Eric Joseph Epstein has submitted a petition to intervene/request for hearing dated May 11, 2007, in which he challenges the October 11, 2006 request of applicant PPL Susquehanna LLC (PPL), as supplemented, to amend the operating license for the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2, to provide for an extended increase in thermal power to 3,952 megawatts thermal, which is 20 percent above the original rated thermal power of 3,293 megawatts thermal, and approximately 13 percent above the current rated thermal power of 3,489 megawatts thermal.

By a May 25, 2007 memorandum, the Secretary of the Commission referred these petitions to the Chief Administrative Judge who, in turn, referred them to this Licensing Board.

Relative to the conduct of this proceeding, the following directives shall apply:

I. CLASSIFICATION OF INTERVENTION PETITION CONTENTIONS In his May 11, 2007 petition, pursuant to 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(f) Mr. Epstein has submitted three contentions contesting the PPL power uprate application for its Susquehanna units. As an aid to the Licensing Board and the other participants in identifying his concerns, the Board has reviewed his contentions in the context of the following classifications:

1.

Technical -- primarily concerns issues relating to matters discussed or referenced in the enclosure evaluation to the October 11, 2006 PPL power uprate application, as supplemented, and the accompanying attachments -- other than the environmental matters discussed in section 6 of the PPL enclosure evaluation and the associated attachment 3 -- or matters the petitioner asserts should be discussed in these technical portions of the PPL application.

2.

Environmental -- primarily concerns issues regarding National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)-related matters discussed or referenced in section 6 of the PPL enclosure evaluation and the associated attachment 3, or matters the petitioner asserts should be discussed in these environmental portions of the PPL application.

3.

Miscellaneous -- does not fall into one of the categories outlined above.

The Board finds that all three of Mr. Epsteins contentions fall into the first category and, as such, will refer to them as Technical Contention (TC)-1, TC-2, and TC-3. If Mr. Epstein believes any of his existing contentions raise issues that cannot be classified as primarily falling into this category, on or before Tuesday, June 5, 2007, Mr. Epstein should provide a supplement to his petition that sets forth the contention and supporting bases in full separately for each category into which it is asserted to fall, with a separate designation for that category (e.g., Environmental-1).

The same designations should be used for any other contentions Mr. Epstein subsequently may file in this proceeding. Contentions bearing more than one designation (e.g.,

1 The Board requests that all pleadings submitted after this date include the date of filing somewhere in the upper right hand quadrant of the first page of the filing.

2 In the appropriate appearance notice or, if an appearance notice has already been submitted, in their respective responses to petitioner Epsteins hearing request, PPL and the staff shall designate a lead counsel for purposes of service by regular or overnight mail, facsimile, or hand delivery in accordance with section II.B below. See infra note 3.

Technical-3/Environmental-3) are not acceptable and may result in the Board making a determination about the appropriate designation for the contention.

II. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS A.

Petition Response/Reply Schedule Based on the certificate of service attached to Mr. Epsteins May 11, 2007 hearing request, in accordance with section 2.309(h), PPL and NRC staff responses to Mr. Epsteins hearing request shall be filed on or before Tuesday, June 5, 2007.1 Thereafter, assuming that filing and service will be done in accordance with the directions given in section II.B below, Mr.

Epsteins replies to the PPL and staff answers shall be filed on or before Tuesday, June 12, 2007.

If they have not already done so, on or before Tuesday, June 5, 2007, each counsel or representative for PPL and the staff shall file a notice of appearance complying with the requirements of 10 C.F.R. § 2.314(b).2 B.

Filing of Pleadings and Other Submissions and Service on the Licensing Board and Other Participants 1.

Service on the Licensing Board For each pleading or other submission filed before the Board or the Commission in this proceeding, subject to the requirement of section II.B.1.g below, in addition to submitting an original and two conforming copies to the Office of the Secretary as required by 10 C.F.R. 3 In making service of paper conforming copies by regular or overnight mail, facsimile, or hand delivery, absent some other agreement among the participants, each participant need only provide a paper copy of the filing to the counsel for PPL and the staff designated as the lead counsel in accordance with section II.A above. See supra note 2. Service by e-mail should be made on all PPL and staff counsel who enter a notice of appearance and provide an e-mail address.

§ 2.304(f) and serving a copy on every other participant in this proceeding in accordance with section 2.305(b),3 a participant should serve conforming copies on the Licensing Board as follows:

a. Regular Mail. To complete service on the Licensing Board, a participant should send conforming copies to Judges Bollwerk and Cole at the following address:

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 For regular mail service on Judges Bollwerk and Cole, the staff may use the NRC internal mail system (Mail Stop T-3F23) in lieu of first-class mail.

For Judge Rubenstein, the participants shall send a conforming copy to him at the following address until Friday, June 8, 2007:

4760 East Country Villa Dr.

Tucson, AZ 85718 After Friday, June 8, 2007, send a conforming copy to Judge Rubenstein at:

1820 Avenida del Mundo Unit 1510 Coronado, Ca. 92118

b. Overnight or Hand Delivery. To complete service on the Licensing Board via overnight (e.g., express mail) delivery, a participant should send conforming copies to Judges Bollwerk and Cole at the following address:

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Third Floor, Two White Flint North 11545 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852-2738 A conforming copy served by overnight mail should be sent to Judge Rubenstein at his regular mail address. Conforming copies delivered by hand should be sent to all three Board members at the Rockville Pike address given above.

It should be noted that use of the Boards regular mail address (see section II.B.1.a above) for an overnight/hand delivery (such as Federal Express) may delay receipt of the filing.

c. Facsimile Transmission. To complete service on the Licensing Board by facsimile transmission, a participant should (i) send one copy by rapifax to the attention of the Licensing Board Chairman at (301) 415-5599 (verification (301) 415-7399); and (ii) that same date, send conforming copies to each of the Board members by regular mail at the addresses given in section II.B.1.a above.

d. E-Mail. To complete service on the Licensing Board by e-mail transmission, a participant should (i) send the filing (which should include the certificate of service) as a Word, WordPerfect, or portable document format (PDF) file attached to an e-mail message directed to the Board members (gpb@nrc.gov, rfc1@nrc.gov, and lesrrr@comcast.net); and (ii) send paper conforming copies that same date to the Board members by regular mail at the addresses given in section II.B.1.a above.

If a participant has a pleading it wishes to send by e-mail that includes attachments it is unable to convert to electronic form, it should do one of the following:

i. If the attachments the participant is unable to convert to electronic form are fifteen pages or less, contemporaneous with the transmission of the pleading by e-mail the attachments should be sent by a separate facsimile transmission. The e-mail and facsimile transmissions should note that separate transmission modes are being used. The paper conforming copies of the pleading and attachments should be sent to the Board members by regular mail at the addresses given in section II.B.1.a above.

ii. If the attachments the participant is unable to convert to electronic form are more than fifteen pages, the pleading should be sent by e-mail and the paper conforming copy of the pleading with the attachments should be sent to the Board members by express mail or other means that will ensure delivery on the next business day. The e-mail should note that there will be next-day service of the pleading with the attachments.

e. Timely Service by Hand Delivery, Facsimile Transmission, or E-Mail. To make timely service on the Licensing Board, any pleading or other submission served by (i) hand delivery must be received by 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time; and (ii) facsimile transmission or e-mail must be received by the Board on the due date no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

f. Service on Other Participants. Whichever of the methods outlined above (e.g., e-mail with conforming paper copies to follow by mail) is used for service on the Licensing Board, the participant serving the pleading should make service on all other participants and the Office of the Secretary (e-mail: hearingdocket@nrc.gov; facsimile number: (301) 415-1101 (facsimile verification number: (301) 415-1966)) by the same or a comparable method.

g. Service of all Filings. Absent some other directive from the Licensing Board, all filings in this case directed to the Board shall be served on the Board and the other participants so as to ensure receipt on the day of filing. Absent some other directive from the Board, the participants may use any of the methods outlined above so long as the filing is timely received by the Board and the other participants.

4 The intervention petition supplement and any responses/replies thereto permitted under section I are not subject to this page limitation, nor are any subsequent request for admission of an untimely contention under section 2.309(c) or a new or amended contention under section 2.309(f)(2), or any responses/replies to such a request.

5 Although the agencys rules of practice do not provide for reply pleadings, the Board will presume that for a reply to be timely, it would have to be filed within seven days of the date of service of the response it is intended to address. See 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(h)(2).

C.

Limitations on Pleading Length and Reply Pleadings 1.

Page Limitation Any motion filed after the date of this memorandum and order and any related responsive pleadings shall not exceed ten pages in length (including signature page) absent preapproval of the Licensing Board.4 A request for Board preapproval to exceed this page limitation shall be sought in writing no less than three business days prior to the time the motion or responsive pleading is filed or due to be filed. A request to exceed this page limitation must (1) indicate whether the request is opposed or supported by the other participants to the proceeding; (2) provide a good faith estimate of the number of additional pages that will be filed; and (3) demonstrate good cause for being permitted to exceed the page limitation.

2.

Reply Pleadings In accordance with the agencys rules of practice, except in instances involving a motion to file an untimely or a new/amended contention, see 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(c), (f)(2), leave must be sought to file a reply to a response to a motion. Compare 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(c) with id.

§ 2.309(h)(2). A request for Board preapproval to file a reply shall be sought in writing no less than three business days prior to the time the reply will be filed.5 A request to file a reply must (1) indicate whether the request is opposed or supported by the other participants to the particular proceeding; and (2) demonstrate good cause for permitting the reply to be filed.

6 In accordance with 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(a), unless some other time is specified in the agencys rules of practice or by the Board, motions generally are due within ten days after the occurrence or circumstance from which the motion arises, with any response to that motion due within ten days of service of the motion. The Board, however, notes relative to motions seeking the admission of untimely or new/amended contentions, see 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(c), (f)(2), that to be considered timely such motions should be filed within thirty days of the date upon which the information that is the basis of the motion becomes available to the petitioner/intervenor, with any response to such a motion due within fourteen days of service of the motion.

D.

Motions for Extension of Time A motion for extension of time filed with the Board in this proceeding shall be submitted in writing at least three business days before the due date for the pleading or other submission for which an extension is sought.6 A motion for extension of time must (1) indicate whether the request is opposed or supported by the other participants to the particular proceeding; and (2) demonstrate appropriate cause that supports permitting the extension.

E.

Opposing a Request to Exceed the Page Limitation, to File a Reply, or to Extend the Time for Filing a Pleading Any written opposition to a request to exceed the page limit, to file a reply, or to extend the time for filing a pleading shall be served on the Licensing Board, the Office of the Secretary, and the other participants in the particular proceeding on the next business day after the filing of the request.

F.

Exhibits/Attachments to Filings.

If a participant files a pleading or other submission with the Licensing Board that has additional documents appended to it as exhibits or attachments, a separate alpha or numeric designation for each appended document (e.g., Exhibit 1; Attachment A) should be given to each appended document, either on the first page of the appended document or on a cover/divider sheet in front of the appended document. Exhibits and attachments to a motion 7 Copies of this memorandum and order were sent this date by Internet e-mail transmission to (1) counsel for applicant PPL and the staff; and (2) petitioner Eric Joseph Epstein.

and any related responsive pleadings are not subject to the page limitation set forth in section II.C.1 above.

It is so ORDERED.

FOR THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD7

/RA/

G. Paul Bollwerk, III CHAIRMAN Rockville, Maryland May 31, 2007

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of

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PPL SUSQUEHANNA LLC

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Docket Nos. 50-387/388-OLA

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(Susquehanna Steam Electric Station,

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Units 1 and 2)

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing LB MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (INITIAL PREHEARING ORDER) have been served upon the following persons by U.S. mail, first class, or through NRC internal distribution.

Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Administrative Judge G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Chair Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Mail Stop - T-3 F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Administrative Judge Richard F. Cole Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Mail Stop - T-3 F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Administrative Judge Lester S. Rubenstein Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Mail Stop - T-3 F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Lawrence J. Chandler, Esq.

Office of the General Counsel Mail Stop - O-15 D21 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Eric Joseph Epstein 4100 Hillsdale Road Harrisburg, PA 17112

2 Docket Nos. 50-387/388-OLA LB MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (INITIAL PREHEARING ORDER)

David R. Lewis, Esq.

Pillsbury, Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP 2300 N Street, NW Washington, DC 20037

[Original signed by Evangeline S. Ngbea]

Office of the Secretary of the Commission Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 31st day of May 2007