ML19347A661
| ML19347A661 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Midland |
| Issue date: | 07/16/1974 |
| From: | Bender P US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| To: | US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8007310567 | |
| Download: ML19347A661 (7) | |
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WfI ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION f,
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'Dixy Lee'. Ray,-Chairman' '
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. William E. Kriegsman c :n.e es ta :w
. William A. Anders-g
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. In.the Matter of Construction Permits
' CONSUMERS F0WER COMPANY Nos. 81 & 82 (Midlan[ Plant, Units 1and2)
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
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By order docketed May 14, 1974, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board presiding over this " shew cause" proceeding. certified to us the question whether certain interrogatories should be answered by the regulatory staff.
The factual background ~can be briefly stated.
The "Saginaw Group" (a party to the proceeding) filed its'"First Set
' of Interrogatories Directed to Regulatory Staff." seeking disclosure of a broad range.of information concerning the liciensee's activities at all nuclear facilities in which.i.t has an interest (Order Certifying Interroga-
- tories, p.1). The staff; objected to answering Saginaw's interrogatories
' with respect t'o facilities other than Midland unless Saginaw made a clear showing of relevance and materiality vis-a-vis the' Midland-show cause pro-ceeding.. Thereafter the Licensing Board determined that, answers'to the n.@ g
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- interrogatories " insofar as they-_ seek disclosure of information relating to-the activities of. Consumers. Power Company. at the Midland facility" were necessary to a proper decision and.that the information sought was not reasonably ~ obtainable from any other source.M The issue was then certified-under the' requirements of'10 CFR 2.720(h)(2)(ii).
Shortly thereafter the
- staff purported to answer theLinterrogatories and stated that it was,dili-
- gently searching its files to respond to that portion of the Board's order
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pertaining to the _ attitude.of the company and its officials.
E' At the-outset, we amphasize the broad substantive scope of this show t
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.cause proceeding. The order to show cause raised the question, inter alia,
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whether there.was reasonable assurance that the licensee would comply,with l-
- quality assurance regulations throughout. the construction process. _ As we L
s'tated in Consumers Powe'r Co.1(Midiand), CLI-74-3, RAI-74-1, at p.11- (Jan.' 21, 1974), the proceeding-involves concern with the licensee's "overall per-formance, now and-in the future, in theLquality assurance area."
In these I'
circumstances, the Licensing. Board may well conclude,-as.it appears-to have
. done, that.the recordineed not beinarrowly limited to the confines of the
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. Midland plantLitself.-
N ?In ad'ition.Jthe Board-. suggested "that the staff be required to' provide
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d whatever available information -it may possess respecting Consumers Power E
4 Company. licensed; activities -which reflects-the; attitude of Consumers
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~. Power Company, and.its Services Management Personnel, toward compliance rwi th ' the ' Comi ssion's - Regulations ~ and license _ requi rements. "
(Order LCertifying Interrogatories,' p._ -3).
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3' We-have' recently. stated that maximum reliance should be placed upon 1.icensing Board determinations as.to the need for material sought by way
'of. discovery. Viroin'ia-Electric and Power Co. (North Anna), CLI-74-16,
.RAI-74-4, p. 313.(April 12, 1974). Applying this standard to the present record, we conclude that the Board properly exercised its discretion in
' calling for the ' interrogatories to be answered, and in its " suggestion"' to the staff as to the production of material. bearing upon the company's attitude.
II.
We are now confronted with an unanalyzed mass of paper.
The' staff doesinotispecify the interrogatories (or parts thereof) to which it objects.
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-Rather, it asserts a blanket objection on' relevancy. grounds to interroga --
tories pertaining to Consumers Power Company facilities other than the Mid-
-land. facility. - Subsequent to the Board's certification' order, tihe staff filed at least partial answers to most of-Saginaw's interrogatories.'
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- sumably,"the? staff:didnotanswer,the? interrogatories ~(orpartsthereof)it deems objectionable. The staff later filed substantial additional material, b
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in respons,e to _a. suggestion! from the Board,.which appears-to relate, at -
' -leastlin part,?to matters the staff had initially claimed to be irrelevant.
The Board's-certification-order contains.no-individual discussion of
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1Sa$1naw'_s[interrogatoiies,nordoes:ithindicatetheBoard'sviewsasto.the-meritssoffthe) staff'sfebjections.
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To avoid further. delays which would be caused by re-certification
'following clarification by. the Board, we..shall:now rule on "the matter of whether the interrogatories should be answered," as required by.
.10CFR'2.720(h)(2)(ii). Our ruling is'that the staff shall answer all
- interrogatories-with respect to which the Board determines that answers
.are:necessary.to a proper decision,-and are not reasonably obtainable
.from any other source. The Board,- of course, retains its discretion to limit discovery-to.that which does no't place unwarrantedly severe burdens upon a' party.
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III.
This is the second time within the 1ast three months that proceedings have been interrupted by the certification of discovery questions to this Commi ssi on'. = See Virginia Electric and Power Co'., suora. These situations
-are attributable not~ to,any indecisiveness on the part of Boards, but to regulations requiring Linterlocutory-Commission review before a Licensing
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Board may order discovery involving Commission ~ personnel and/or documents.
~10 CFR 2.720(h)(2);110 CFR 2.744.= Our review of those cases' leads us.to question;whithe,r these regulations' continue to serve any usefu1~ purpose..
The.weaknes'ses-of these rules are apparent. A requirement of' inter --
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locutory review fcontributes to delay in adjudication, forcing parties 'an'd boards'to await Commission rulings before' proceeding. Second, the rules require that> thiPCommission review board'detenninations as to what details 4
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of discov'ery.are necessary to.a proper. decision 'and what materials are not reasonably: obtainable elsewhere. As.we explained in Virainia Electric and.
Power-Co.,7 supra, in procedural' matters, only the Licensing-Boards have first-hand ~ contact with and appreciation.for. all the circumstances" ~sur-
'roun' ding a particular case. For this reason, the Commission is hardly in a position to second guess its own boards with. respect to such factual de-
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tails. ' Finally,;the' rule ' accords a preferential status to' Commission per-
.sonnel and documents, while discriminating against other parties (appli-cants and intervenors).who can'not invoke Commission review of their refu-sais to respond to discovery.
These disadvantages are not counterbalanced by any benefit now readily apparent. Consequently, we are inclined t'o the viev that the rules.should ibe modified. prospectively. For these purposes, the Direc' tor of Regulation, in consultation-with the General Manager, shall promptly review the matter and initiate appropriate action.
It:is so ORDERED.
By the Commission.
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PAUL C. BEM0ER' Secretary of the Commission I
~ Dated at Germantown,' Maryland '
y Lthis?16th day of July 1974.
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' UNITED STATES OF-A:: ERICA I ATOMIC ENERGY COS'JIISSION' t
In the' Matter'of.
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-CONSUMERS: POWER COMPATf
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Docket No.(s) CPPR-81
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CPPR-82
'(Midland Plant, Units 1 and 2) ~
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. CERTIFICATE OF SER" ICE 1 hereby-certify that I have.this day served the foregoing documen: (s* ' )
upoli' each pe'r' son designated ~on the 'of ficial service list compiled by '
the Office of the Secretary of the Co::::ission in this proceeding in accordance with the require =ents of Section 2.'712 of 10 CFR Part 2-
' Rules of.~ Practice, of.the Atomic Energy Commission's Rules and
- Regulations.
Dated acLWash geop, D. C. this-
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10ffice/qf jthe Secretary of the Co:=nission e,
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA'-
' ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION i
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In the Matter of-.
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! CONSUMERS! POWER COMPANY
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- Docket Nos. CPPR-81,82 f
f(Midland. Piant, Unids'1'and 2)-
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SERVICE LIST l
Michael Glaser,c Esq., Chairman.
Mr. Lester.Kornblith, Jr.
J AtomicL Safdty.'and. Licensing Board Atomic Safety and Licensing Board l
'1150 17th Street, N. W.,
U..S. Atomic Energy Con =tission Washington', D. C.
20036 Washingto1, D. C.
20545 1Dr. Eemeth A..Luebke Myron M.. Cherry, Esq.
. Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Jenner and Block U. 'S.: Atoraic. Energy Commission One IBM Plaza Washingtin, D. C. 20545 Chicagn, Illinois 60611 j.
'Jdme's P. durray, Jr. Esq.
Roy E. Kinsey, Jr., Esq.
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. Of fice of.aneral ' Counsel' Office. of General Counse1~
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Regulatien
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I Judd L. Bacon, Esq.
John Gerald Gleeson, Esq.
Consumers ' Power-. Company ~
Leslie F. Nute, Esq.
212 West Michigan Avenue The Dow Chemical Conpany
' Jackson,- Michigan ; 49201
_ Midland, Michigan 48640
-Michael I.:ltiller, Esq.
Paul-W. Koval,-Esq.
R.:: Rex Renfrow,.-III; Esq.
Legal Department Isham,. Lincoln & Beale; Consumers Power Company One First National Plaza '
212'W. Michigan Avenue Chicago,-Illinois 60670'
.~ Jackson, Michigan 49201 Laurence M. Scoville, - Jr., s Esq. ~
. Mr. Karl Berg, Director '
Clark,1 Klein, Winter, Parsons Grace.Dow Memorial Library land'Prewitt-1710 West St. Andrew Road.
~ First Federal Building,,1600 Midland, Michigan 48640 E
- -1001 Wooduard Avenue I etroit,' Michigan - 48226 D
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.Bartholomew P. Molloy, Esq.
- CharlesiJ.-f Senger, Esq.
" VClerk, Klein, Winter [ Parsons -
and.Prewitt-
'1600 FirsttFederal Building 1001 Woodward-Avenuel
- Detrdit,' Michigan-J48226 -
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