ML20153B224

Memorandum & Order (Scheduling Matters & Electronic Hearing Database).* Natl Whistleblower Ctr Motion to Delay Prehearing Conference Denied,But Petition Suppl Extension Request Granted.With Certificate of Svc.Served on 980921

ML20153B224
Person / Time
Site:	Calvert Cliffs
Issue date:	09/21/1998
From:	Bollwerk G Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
To:	NATIONAL WHISTLEBLOWER CENTER
References
CON-#398-19535 98-749-01-LR, 98-749-1-LR, CLI-73-12, CLI-98-19, LR, NUDOCS 9809230021
Download: ML20153B224 (6)

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DOCKETED ,

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION USNRC i

' ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD PI:09  !

Before Administrative Judges:  ;

G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Chairman t SFC = f'; f W OFFn[-@diqjg i

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Dr. Jerry R. Kline ADJUDiCedGC diXFF - l Thomas D. Murphy  :

In the Matter of Docket Nos. 50-317-LR 50-318-LR BALTIMORE GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY ASLBP No. 98-749-01-LR l

'(Calvert Cliffs Nuclear  ;

Power Plant, Units 1 &.2) September 21, 1998 I l

I MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Scheduling Matters and SERVED SEP 21'199 Electronic Hearing Database)

In its September 17, 1998 memorandum and order, l CLI-98-19, 48 NRC (Sept. 17, 1998), the Commission provided that petitioner National Whistleblower Center (NWC) i has up to and including Wednesday, September 30, 1998, within which to file any supplement to its August 7, 1998 intervention petition. The following day, NWC requested that the Board (1) delay any prehearing conference so that it-might have "at least minimum partial discovery (without waiving its.right to full discovery) prior to the pre-hearing conference to assist in the formulation of its f

non-late filed contentions"; or (2) in the alternative,

provide a one-day extension of-time to file its petition y

supplement because the September 30 date falls on a Jewish j

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9909230021 980921 PDR

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l religious holiday observed by NWC counsel. Petitioner's l

l Motion to Vacate Pre-Hearing Conference or in Alternative for an Extension of Time (Sept. 18, 1998) at 2.

l Petitioner's motion indicates that applicant Baltimore Gas i

and Electric Company (BG&E) and the NRC staff have no l

l . objection to the filing extension but oppose its prehearing conference delay request.

We denv petitioner NWC's motion to delay the prehearing conference until after it has had an opportunity for discovery. The portion of the regulation discussed by NWC i l

as authority for its request -- 10 C.F.R. S 2.752(a) -- is 1

inapposite. Like 10 C.F.R. S 2.751a, it concerns a l proceeding for an initial application for autnority to construct or operate a reactor facility, which bC&E's l

license renewal application is not. Moreover, longstanding agency precedent precludes an intervenor from obtaining discovery to assist it in framing contentions. See Northern -

States Power Co. (Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, 1

L Units 1 & 2), ALAB-107, 6 AEC 188, 192, reconsideration >

denied, ALAB-110, 6 AEC 247, aff'd, CLI-73-12, 6 AEC 241 (1973).

We urant the NWC extension requent. Its intervention i petition supplement shall be filed on or before Thursdav, October 1, 1998. Further, in light of this ruling, i ,

applicant Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BG&E) and the c

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i NRC'starf shall have up to and including Mondav, November 2,_ f i

1221, within which to respond to any timely filed NWC j intervention petition supplement.2 Relative to the prehearing conference,. With the change in filing dates for the'NWC petition supplement and the f i

applicant and staff responses, the Licensing Board now -!

intends to hold a prehearing conference in this proceeding on either Monday and Tuesday, November 9-10, 1998, or  !

Thursday and Friday, November 12-13, 1998, at the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel' Hearing Room, Room T- 3B4 5, l

Third Floor, Two White Flint North Building, 11545 Rockville i'

Pike, Rockville, Maryland. Any participant who has a l

potential scheduling conflict during either of these two  ;

. periods should contact the Board Chairman immediately at j (301) 415-7454.  !

Additionally, in its initial prehearing order, the ,

Board requested.that the participants nrovide it with an i

electronic copy of each participant filing before the Board l f

or'the Commission either as an e-mail attachment or by  !

.i L  !

2.

l-Under the revised filing schedule, intervenor.NWC has  !

42 days from the time of the Board's August 20, 1998 initial

.prehearing order in which to file its intervention petition supplement, which must include its contentions. In-order to comply with the Commission's admonition that this schedule

change should not cause our initial decision to be postponed i by more than "two weeks or so," CLI-98-17, 48 NRC at (slip op. at 2), we afford BG&E and the staff a somewhat -l 4 shorter period to respond to.this filing. They are, of l j course, free to seek an extension of time. l t

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t regular mail on a 3.5 inch diskette. See Licensing Board Memorandum and Order (Initial Prehearing Order) (Aug. 20, t

1998) at 11-12 (unpublished) [ hereinafter Initial Prehearing Order). Up to this point, the Board has not received an electronic version of any of the NWC filings. We ask that on or before Monday, Seotember 28, 1998, NWC submit to the

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Board an electronic version of each of its already-filed Commission and Board pleadings and request again that an electronic copy of each future filing be provided to the Board contemporaneously with the submission of the document.

Finally, the NWC intervention petition supplement and  ;

the BG&E and staff responsive filings referenced in this issuance should be served on the Board, the Office of the Secretary, and counsel for the other participants by facsimile transmission, e-mail, or other means that will l

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ensure receipt by midnight ET on the day of filing. See Initial Prehearing Order at 8.

It is so ORDERED.

FOR THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD 2 i . - - .

J/ ( , I (/

G. Pa'ul Bollwerk, III ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE Rockville, Maryland September 21, 1998 i

2 Copies of this memorandum and order were sent this date to counsel for applicant BG&E and petitioner NWC by Internet e-mail transmission; and to counsel for the staff by e-mail through the agency's wide area network system.

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of BALTIMORE GAS & ELECTRIC COMPANY Docket No.(s) 50-317/318-LR (Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2)

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

,- I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing LB M&O (SCHEDULING MATTERS...)

4 have been served upon the following persons by U.S. mail, first class, except as otherwise noted and in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR Sec. 2.712.

Administrative Judge Office of Comission Appellate G. Paul Bo11werk, III Adjudication Chairman

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel j Washington, DC 20555 Mail Stop - T-3 F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission Washington, DC 20555 Administrative Judge Administrative Judge Jerry R. Kline Thomas D. Murphy Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Mail Stop - T-3 F23 Mail Stop - T-3 F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission Washington, DC 20555 Washington, DC 20555 Robert M. Weisman, Esq. l Marian L. Zobler, Esq. Stephen M. Kohn, Esq. 1 Office of the General Counsel National Whistleblower Legal Defense Mail Stop 15 B18 and Education Fund i U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission 3233 P Street, NW i Washington, DC 20555 Washington, DC 20007 1

David R. Lewis, Esq.

Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge 2300 N Street, NW Washington, DC 20037 1 Dated at Rockville, Md. this

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21 day of September 1998 r // 7Jr G (Ew .o LVL(L% w /

OfficeoftheSecretaryfftheCommission 1