ML19261D905
| ML19261D905 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 05/23/1979 |
| From: | Hendrie J NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Hughes W HOUSE OF REP. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19261D906 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7906280257 | |
| Download: ML19261D905 (2) | |
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t UNITED STATES I k3 I E NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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WASmNGTON, D.C. 20555 May 23, 1979 OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN The Honoracle William J. Hughes United Sti tes House of Representatives Washingtoi, D. C.
20515
Dear Congressman Hughes:
This is in response to your letter of March 29, 1979 which forwarded a comunication which you received from one of your constituents, Jean M.
Jones, commenting upon the manner in which limited appearance statements were received in a public hearing conducted by the NRC in Salem County. The record of the Salem proceeding has been reviewed with respect to the subject of your inquiry and the following coments are offered for your assistance in replying to your constituent.
In the discretion of the presiding officer, persons who are not a party to an NRC licensing proceeding are permitted to make a limited appearance by making an oral or written statement of their position at the public hearing.
Such limited' appearance ~ statements are not sworn testimony and, therefore, rio not become a part of the evidentiary record upon which a licensing board decision must be based. However, such participation by members of the public who are not parties to the proceeding serve to bring to the attention of the Board and the parties any matters of local concern so that the Board will have an opportunity to ensure that relevant and meritorious concerns are properly dealt with during the course of the hearing.
In the Salem proceeding, two hearing sessions were held for the sole purpose of receiving limited appearance statements.
The first, which was scheduled
.to continue for two hours, comenced on the evening of March 15,1979 at 7:00 p.m.
It concluded at 10:15 p.m., after 30 statements were heard. The second session convened the next morning at 9.00 a.m. for the purpose of hearing 10 additional statements. That session lasted 2-1/2 hours.
More than 30 pages of additional written statements subiaitted to the Board were accepted without limitation at this second session.
Review of the transcript shows that the Chairman had to suggest to only four of the 40 persons who spoke that they finish in order to allow others to speak.
Each of the four individuals had gone over the five-minute time limitation which the Board had set to permit an opportunity for all to speak.
The first seven appearances averaged approximately seven minutes per speaker. Following your can statement to the Licensing Board, additional speakers who had listed their names on a sign-up sheet were in turn called.
The second speaker, after 10-1/2 minutes, was asked if he could conclude his r' marks shortly. He did so after another minute or so.
e 220 356 7 906280R$
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The Honorable William J. Hughes Following the statements of those who had requested in advance an oppor tunity to speak, statements from others who had not done so were received Ms. Jones spoke for three or four minutes.
had not previously planned to speak averaged about 3 minutes each.Each the Chairman how much longer he would be. tenth of these speak The his statement in another five minutes.
He was then allowed to conclude During the morning session, two had continued for approximately ten minutes.of the ten speaker Ms. Jones' reference to a newspaper saying the Board "had their minds all made up before they condescended to let the public air their views,"
may have referred to a caption on a photograph in the New Jersey edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer which made a statement implying the Board had approved the plant.
by the NRC Region I Office of Public Affairs, and the paper pr run a correction.
I understand that after the evening session of the hearing which was scheduled specially for the convenience of members of the public who could not attend a session during regular business hours of the day, several of th'ese speakers came up to the bench and thanked the Board members and expressed their appreciation for their patience and tolerance For your infonnation, the three-member atomic safety and licensing board for the Salem proceeding is composed of the Chairman, Gary L. Milhollin Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School; Mr KornblitF, Jr., a reactor engineer and full-time member of the Atomic
. Lester and Dr. James C. Lamb, III, an environmental scien of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of the University of North Carolina.
hesitate to contact me.If you have any further questions concerning this matt Sincerely, Joseph M. Hendrie Chairman}