ML14180A026
| ML14180A026 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Fort Calhoun  |
| Issue date: | 06/27/2014 |
| From: | Taylor W Wallace L. Taylor, Attorney at Law |
| To: | NRC/OCM |
| SECY RAS | |
| References | |
| 50-285-LA, Pending, RAS 26123 | |
| Download: ML14180A026 (5) | |
Text
BEFORE THE UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION IN THE MATTER OF )
) Docket No. 50-285 OMAHA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT )
) June 27, 2014 FORT CALHOUN STATION, UNIT 1 )
DECLARATION OF PETITIONERS COUNSEL IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS MOTION FOR RECUSAL OF COMMISSIONER MAGWOOD Comes now Wallace L. Taylor, counsel for the Petitioner herein, and makes the following declaration under penalty of perjury:
- 1. The Declarant is an attorney at law, licensed to practice by the Supreme Court of Iowa since 1972. He is also admitted to practice before several federal courts and the Supreme Court of the United States.
- 2. The Declarant represents the Sierra Club in this proceeding.
- 3. Pending before the Commission is a Petition to Intervene and for Adjudicatory Hearing, which the Declarant researched, wrote and filed in this proceeding on April 25, 2014.
- 4. The NRC staff filed an Answer to the Petition, and Petitioner filed a Reply. The Petition has now been referred to the Commission for appropriate action. The Commission can either decide the issues raised in the 1
pleadings, refer the Petition to an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, or decide some issues and refer others.
- 5. Prior to filing this Motion of which this Declaration is a part, Declarant conducted a diligent investigation and determined the following matters to be true as he verily believes:
- a. Commissioner William Magwood should permanently recuse himself from any participation in the docketing, deliberations over, and determination of any issues raised by the Sierra Clubs Petition in this matter, because he has an irreparable conflicting professional interest in the matter for the reasons set forth in the Motion.
- b. Commissioner William Magwood now holds employment outside the Commission which has fatally compromised his ability to function as an independent regulator of nuclear safety. He has accepted the position of Director-General with the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Developments Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). The NEA actively promotes the development of the production and uses of nuclear energy, and its policies are set by member governments. The objective of the Agency is to assist its member countries in maintaining and further developing, through international co-operation, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for a safe, 2
environmentally friendly and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 2013 NEA Annual Report, p.
2, www.oecd-nea.org/pub/activities/ar2013.ar2013.pdf.
- c. Some of OECDs member governments own or sponsor U.S. nuclear licensees and applicants. Commissioner Magwood, who has been portrayed in official literature of the OECD as the NEAs new Director-General, is now affiliated with an entity with a mandate to promote nuclear energy and the economic interests of its members. His NEA association directly conflicts with the terms of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, which established the NRC and dictates that safety is the Commissions overriding concern, while leaving promotion of nuclear power to the Department of Energy.
- 6. Commissioner Magwoods affiliation with the OECD-NEA presents a classic actual conflict of interest, where as NRC Commissioner he would be in a role where he could vote to deny the Sierra Clubs Petition because of his position as the head of an agency promoting, rather than regulating, nuclear power.
- 7. At a minimum, Commissioner Magwoods affiliation with OECD-NEA amounts to the appearance of a conflict of interest and his participation from this point forward in 3
this proceeding will undermine the public perception of the impartiality of the NRCs adjudicatory determinations.
Dated this 27th day of June, 2014.
/s/ Wallace L. Taylor WALLACE L. TAYLOR Law Offices of Wallace L. Taylor 118 3rd Ave. S.E., Suite 326 Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401 319-366-2428;(Fax)319-366-3886 e-mail: wtaylorlaw@aol.com ATTORNEY FOR PETITIONER 4
BEFORE THE UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION IN THE MATTER OF )
) Docket No. 50-285 OMAHA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT )
)
FORT CALHOUN STATION, UNIT 1 )
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE Pursuant to 10 C.F.R. § 2.305 (revised), I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing DECLARATION OF PETITIONERS COUNSEL IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS MOTION FOR RECUSAL OF COMMISSIONER MAGWOOD, dated June 27, 2014, have been served upon the Electronic Information Exchange, the NRCs E-Filing System, in the above captioned proceeding, on this 27th day of June, 2014.
/s/ Wallace L. Taylor WALLACE L. TAYLOR Law Offices of Wallace L. Taylor 118 3rd Ave. S.E., Suite 326 Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401 319-366-2428;(Fax)319-366-3886 e-mail: wtaylorlaw@aol.com 5