ML20204J850

Joint Motion for 1-month Extension of Hearings Scheduled for End of Sept or Beginning of Oct Re Onsite Emergency Planning & Technical Issues Due to Lack of Time for Review. Certificate of Svc Encl.Related Correspondence

ML20204J850
Person / Time
Site:	Seabrook
Issue date:	08/06/1986
From:	Backus R, Curran D HARMON & WEISS, NEW ENGLAND COALITION ON NUCLEAR POLLUTION, SEACOAST ANTI-POLLUTION LEAGUE
To:	Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
Shared Package
ML20204J826	List: ML20204J822 ML20204J850 ML20204J876 ML20204J890
References
OL, NUDOCS 8608110213
Download: ML20204J850 (6)

Text

.

5

. st9tATEDy GD!TT.7Nd5 ,,

August 6, 190gegETED #

USNRC UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING - A '.8Aff;ff 0FFICE pr e- ,.

) 00Crf, !: '

'r' In the Matter of ) '- .

)

Public Service Company of )

New Hampshire, et al. ) Docket Nos. 50-443 OL

) 50-444 OL (Seabrook Station, Units 1 & 2) ) ONSITE EMERGENCY

) PLANNING & TECHNICAL

) ISSUES JOINT MOTION BY NEW ENGLAND COALITION ON NUCLEAR POLLUTION AND SEACOAST ANTI-POLLUTION LEAGUE FOR EXTENSION OF HEARING SCHEDULE On July 25, the Licensing Board established a schedule for the litigation of contentions relating to onsite emergency plan-ning and technical issues for the Seabrook plant. According to the Board's schedule, interrogatories must be filed by August 8, 1986; depositions must be taken by August 25, 1986; and testimony must be submitted by September 12, 1986, with hearings to com-mence at the end of September or beginning of October.

The Board's order gives virtually no time for the review of answers to interrogatories before taking depositions, thus plac-ing an extraordinary and unnecessary burden on intervenors to guess who Applicants' experts might be and depose, as well as to depose witnesses without the benefit of knowing the gist of their position or the contents of documents on which they rely. More-over, the Board's schedule places the brunt of responsibility for reviewing documents, taking depositions, and preparing for hear-ings, squarely in the month of August, when counsel and support 8608110213 860806 PDR G

ADOCK 05000443 PDR ~

2-staff have planned vacations, and the parties' consultant will be unavailable. Given the impossibly tight discovery schedule and the extreme dif ficulty in preparing for hearing during August, NECNP and S APL respectfully request that the Board extend the hearing schedule by one month in order to allow adequate time to prepare for the hearing.

The Board's July 25 order establishes a time frame for dis-covery 'that begins "immediately," with the last interrogatories and request for documents due by August 8, 1986. NECNP and S APL did not receive the order until several days after July 25th.

With extreme diligence, NECNP and SAPL were able to secure tech-nical assistance and prepare interrogatories by this week. Under the Commission's rules, Applicants will have until August 25 to answer the interrogatories -- the same date as the deadline for the last depositions. In effect, the Board's order requires the parties to conduct depositions before they have had a chance to discover the identity of the other parties' witnesses, to learn the essential bases of their position, or to review the documents that underly their position. In effect, the taking of deposi-tions is virtually impossible under the Board's order.

In establishing a hearing schedule that requires major hear-ing preparation activity in August, a month traditionally set aside for vacations, the Board also places undue hardship on the intervenors. Both the New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution

("NECNP") and the Seacoast Anti-Pollution League ("SAPL") have obtained the assistance of a highly qualified nuclear engineer in preparing discovery, reviewing documents, taking depositions, and

preparing for hearings on onsite planning and technical issues.

The parties' consultant will be on vacation during the entire month of August, and thus will be unavailable to assist with depositions, review answers to interrogatories, or assist in any other way during August. NECNP has searched for another expert consultant without success. Without the technical assistance of an expert, it is impossible to participate in the litigation in any meaningful way.

Counsel for NECNP also has longstanding plans for a family vacation during the last two weeks of August, when the Board's order places major burdens on intervenors for reviewing discovery-and preparing for hearings. Counsel's vacation plans were made months ago, and were specifically tailored to avoid conflict with the offsite emergency planning hearings that were scheduled this spring for the first two weeks of August. (The hearings were suspended in July.) Having made every effort to be available for Seabrook licensing hearings this summer, counsel for NECNP cannot reasonably be expected to change plans when that schedule is abruptly changed.

Finally, no harm to Applicants' schedule for operation would result from a one-month extension of the hearing schedule. It is clear that the Applicants are far from fulfilling all require-ments for a full power operating license, since no offsite emergency plans have been submitted by the Commonwealth of Mas-sachusetts. Even if those plans were submitted tomorrow, it would be many months before hearings could be completed and an operating license issued. There is thus no threat to the ade-

_ _ J

+

, quacy of time for conducting low power testing, which takes only a matter of weeks.

Respectfully submitted, i y a.,.._ ! :m , . 0!<,.1 - ~

d'^' C Diane Curran Robert A. Ba ckus HARMON & WEISS BACKUS, MEYER & SOLOMON 2001 "S" Street N.W. Suite 430 Washington, D. C. 20009 111 Lowell Street Manchester, NH 03105 (202) 328-3500 (603) 668-7272 August 6, 1986

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that on August 6, 1986, copies of JOINT MOTION BY NEW ENGLAND COALITION ON NUCLEAR POLLUTION AND SEACOAST ANTI-POLLUTION LEAGUE FOR EXTENSION OF HEARING SCHEDULE, NEW ENGLAND COALITION ON NUCLEAR POLLUTION'S FIRST SET OF INTERROGATORIES AND REQUEST FOR THE PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS TO APPLICANTS, and NEW ENGLAND COALITION ON NUCLEAR POLLUTICN'S FIRST SET OF INTER-ROGATORIES AND REQUEST FOR THE PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS TO THE NRC STAFF, were served on the following by first-class mail:

Sheldon J. Wo l f e, Chairman Rep. Roberta C. Pevear Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Drinkwater Road U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Hampton, Falls, NH 03844 Washington, D.C. 20555 Phillip Ahrens, Esq.

Dr. Jerry Harbour Assistant Attorney General Atomic Safety and Licensing Board State House, Station f 6 U. S . Nuclear Regulatory Commission Augusta, ME 04333 Wa shing ton, D. C. 20555 Thomas G. Dignan, Esq.

Dr. Emmeth A. Luebke R.K. Gad II, Esq.

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Ropes & Gray U. S . Nuclear Regulatory Commission 225 Franklin Street Washington, D. C . 20555 Boston, MA 02110 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Robert A. Backus, Esq.

Panel Backus, Meyer & Solomon U. S . Nuclear Regulatory Commission lll Lowell Street Washington, D.C. 20555 Manchester, NH 03105 Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Robert G. Perlis, Esq.

Board Panel Sherwin E. Turk, Esq.

U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Of fice of the Executive Legal Washington, D. C . 20555 Director U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Docketing and Service Washington, D.C. 20555 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Mr. Angie Machiros, Chairman Board of Selectmen Mrs. Anne E. Goodman Newbury, MA 01950 Board of Selectmen 13-15 New Market Road H. Joseph Flynn, Esq.

Durham, NH 03842 Of fice of General Counsel Federal Emergency Management Agency William S. Lord, Selectman 500 C Street S.W.

Town Hall -- Friend Street Washington, D.C. 20472 Amesbury, MA 01913 George Dana Bisbee, Esq.

Jane Doughty Stephen E . Merrill, Esq.

S AP L Of fice of the Attorney General 5 Market Street State House Annex l Portsmouth, NH 03801 Concord, NH 03301 i

2-Ca rol S. Sneider, Esquire Allen Lamper t Assistant Attorney General Civil Defense Director Department of the Attorney General Town of Brentowood 1 Ashburton Place, 19th Floor Exeter, NH 03833 Boston, MA 02108 Richard A. Hampe, Esq.

Stanley W. Knowles Hampe and McNicholas Board of Selectmen 35 Pleasant Street P.O. Bo x 710 Concord, NH 03301 No rth Hampton, NH 03826 Cary W. Holmes, Esq.

J.P. Nadeau, Selectman Holmes & Ellis Town of Rye 47 Winnacunnent Road 155 Washington Road 'Ha mp to n , NH 03842 Rye, New Hampshire 03870 William Armstrong Richard E. Sullivan, Ma yo r Civil Defense Director Ci ty Hall 10 Front Street Newburyport, MA 01950 Exeter, NH 03833 Alfred V. Sargent, Chairman Calvin A. Canney Board of Selectmen Ci ty Manager Town of Salisbury, MA 01950 City Hall 126 Daniel Street Senator Gordon J. Humphrey Portsmouth, NH 03801 U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Matthew T. Brock, Esq.

(Attn. Tom Burack) Shaines & McEachern P. O. Box 360 Selectmen of Northampton Maplewood Ave.

Northampton, New Hampshire 03826 Portsmouth, NH 03801 Senator Gordon J. Humphrey Sandra Gavutis 1 Pillsbury Street Town of Kensington Concord, NH 03301 RFD 1 Box 1154 East Kensington, NH 03827 Michael Santosuosso, Chairman Board of Selectmen Jewell Street, RFD # 2 South Hampton, NH 03842 s ,-

() A -<

Diane Curran t_,