ML20214N151

Memorandum & Order (Order Requiring Filing of Douments on Diskettes Suitable for Electronic Storage & Retrieval).* Served on 870526

ML20214N151
Person / Time
Site:	Diablo Canyon
Issue date:	05/22/1987
From:	Cotter B Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
To:	NRC OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL (OGC), PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO., SAN LUIS OBISPO MOTHERS FOR PEACE
References
CON-#287-3580 86-523-03-LA, 86-523-3-LA, OLA, NUDOCS 8706020080
Download: ML20214N151 (9)

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATOM C0pellSS10N my 26 P2 53 ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING 80ARD Before Administrative Judges: @l. ,

B. Paul Cotter, Jr., Chairman Glenn 0. Bright SERVED MAY 2 61987 l

In the Matter oft Docket Nos. 50-275-OLA h and 50 323-OLA PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY (ASL8PNo.86-523-03-LA) i (Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, q j

. Units 1 and 2) 22, 1987

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MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Order Requiring the Filing of Documents on Diskettes Suitable for Electronic Storage and Retrieval)

1. INTRODUCTION 1

! The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board seeks to expedite this proceeding to the benefit of all parties pursuant to the directions of the Comission in its Statement of Policy on Conduct of Licensing Proceedings,13NRC452(CLI-81-8,1981). That guidance encouraged i adjudicatory boards to " expedite the hearing process" and " produce a record which leads to high quality decisions" by using the management methods set out in Part 2, which includes the power of the boards to I

regulate the course of the hearing and the conduct of the parties under 10C.F.R.2.718(1987). Id., at 453. The guidelines in the policy statement are not exclusive, "but rather are to be considered 1

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2-illustrative of the actions that can be taken by individual boards."

Jd. This Board seeks to carry out those responsibilities by drawing on the computer technology that has been so long employed by many, if not most, of the attorneys in this country who litigate complex lawsuits.

The requirements and procedures described in this memorandum and order are not intended to, and do not, replace the standard filing requirements in Nuclear Regulatory Commission proceedings. The parties willfilehardcopyasusualinconformancewith10C.F.R.2.708(1987).

That hard copy, as in all NRC proceedings, will be the record upon which the Board will make its decision.

While the proceJures and requirements for electronic filing are in addition to the normal method of filing, they are intended to benefit the parties, not burden them. The purpose of creating a computer searchable record is to increase the speed and facility of the parties and the Board in finding specific documents and transcript references, preparing findings of fact and conclusions of law, and preparing a written decision from the record in this proceeding.I I This memorandum and order is part of a larger effort by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel to standardize computer readable filings and procedures for all cases wherever, and to the extent, feasible.

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To those ends, this memorandum and order directs the capture, in computer readable fonn, of a significant portion of the record for decision. Specifically, the Board seeks to capture on computer readable diskettes three categories of record materials, namely: (a)prefiled testimony; (b) proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law; and l

l (c)thetranscriptofthehearing. Electronic capture will assist the parties and the Board in the following ways:

1. Hake available to the Board and the parties a full text, i electronically searchable record to aid and expedito the preparation of findings, conclusions and the Initial Decision by replacing the slow and time consuming method of manual indexing and record search with a virtually instantaneous electronic full-text index system;

2. Aid and expedite the presentation of evidence and the conduct of cross-examination during the hearing (if the requisite equipmentisthenavailable)throughafullyindexedand virtually instantaneous electronic search system on a portable computer at the hearing

3. Insure the completeness and reliability of the parties' filings and the Board's issuances, particularly the initial Decision, as they relate to profiled testimony and the hearing

4 transcript, by making available the sidetic memory of a computerized, full. text search system.

The full benefit of the foregoing effects will not be fully realized in the instant proceeding because some exhibits and other portions of the record up to this point have not been captured for l

computer search. The parties are encouraged to make available in the i electronic form described below whatever exhibits they may already have captured in that medium. In any event, substantial benefit will accrue to the Board, the parties, and the proceeding from the time saved in j finding record references and producing findings, conclusions, and an initial decision, because the vast majority of the record on which the l

i Board's decision will be based will be available electronically.

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!!. COMPUTER RESOURCES i

l The Board is equipped with IBM personal computers (IBM PC XTs with 640 kilobytes ("kb") of memory, a 360 Kb disk drive, and a 20 megabyte

("Mb")harddisk). EachcomputerhasanATATDataphone!! modem (1200 baud),isoperatedbyPCDOS3.1,andusestheIBMDisplayWrite3 word processing program. The Board also has available to it a Compaq 386 personal computer (with 130 Mb of memory and a 40 Mb backup tape drive) and a laser printer.

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s i -5 For indexing, the Board uses "Zy1NDEX", which can index every word for computer search in up to 15,000 files.2 The Board will compile a central data base of all computer readable filings received in this proceeding and index it with ZylNDEX at the request of the parties.

In response to the Board's inquiry, the parties have stated that they have IBM equipment or the capability to submit filings in pure ASCI! fonn. Counsel for the Sierra Club has an IBM PC which uses " Word Perfect" sof tware for word processing.

AppItcant is preparing its filings on a Wang system but can cenvert 3

from the Wang format to file in pure ASCI! with relatively littlo effort. Applicant also notes, however, that certain characters and symbols may not be converted successfully into puro ASCl!. Appilcant can filo approximately 150 pages of profiled testimony plus a significant portion of its exhibits on computer readable diskettes and 2

The Board also has a more powerful full text indexing program, l

• Bluefish", which can handle 15 million files. Bluefish can find and list every occurrence of a given word or phrase in 15,000 pages of text within two seconds, llowever, the indexed flies require twice again as much space as the text itself. Conseguently Bluefish requires more personal computer capacity than Zy!NDEX.

3 ASCll Interchange)(the is a standard American National code used Standardinfonnation for exchanging Code foramongInformation data proCossing systems and associated equipment. An ASCII file is a textfile(alphanumericcharactors,s)ecialcharactors, linefeed,and carria ASCl!codes. ge return charactors) in whlen tio characters are represented in l

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i will furnish enough diskettes to receive a complete copy of the fully indexed data base. Applicant reports that it has access to the Zy!NDEX prograr., and requests that the data base be indexed with that program.

NRC Staff has IBM PCs operating with the IBM 5520 Administrative System. Staf f's response to the Board's inquiry recites at some length its objections to the Board's proposed order, the initially proposed fomat, the value of a central data base, and various other matters.

However, Staff also recites that it is "willing to accommodate the Board's legitimate interest in efficiency and expedition," and Staff is able to furnish diskettes in pure ASCI!. Staff also has Zy!NDEX, but not Bluefish and apparently is unaware that the latter is readily available. Staff expects to file 100 pages of hard copy prict to the hearing and estimates that intervenor will file a like number of pages.

Consequently, it appears that profiled material will be approximately 1,000 pages, transcript pages will number approximately 750 pages, and the complete data base will total approximately 1800 pages.

Test Results All parties have submitted diskettes to tho Board in pure AfCII fom to test the system proposed in our April 30, 1987 order. All submittals were successfully captured and indexed.

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I. PROCEDURE

S A. Filings Each party will accompany its profiled testimony and proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law with a computer readable diskette copy of the text ("hard copy") in pure ASCII fonn and the formattheynormallyusepursuantto10CFR2.708(1981). If profiled testimony includes drawings, that material is not to be captured in computer readable fonn. ,

With respect to symbols, equations, and other items that are difficult to (or will not) transmit in pure ASCII, the parties are to insert asterisks where that material occurs and the Board will have that material keyed into its captured data base for completeness.

B. Indexed Central Data Base Upon receipt of the diskettes, the Board will have them recorded in a single repository which will serve as the central data base for the computerized portion of the record in this proceeding. Each word in the data base will be fully indexed using Zy!NDEX. After all materials filed have been recorded and indexed, the Board will make copies of the complete data base and return one copy on the diskettes the parties have supplied to each of them for their use. If any party wishes to receive

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the data base fully indexed with Bluefish, they should so request at the time they file. The Board will mail to each party a diskette (s) I containing a complete copy of the data base, indexed in accordance with each party's request, within three working days of receipt of the last party's filing.

The Board had hoped to bring to the hearing the fully indexed data base on a portable Compaq computer for use during the hearing. It now appears, however, that the equipment may not be available. The indexed feature of the' data base would have enabled the Board and the parties to substantially reduce the time needed to search for references during the course of direct and cross-examination. If circumstances change and the equipment becomes available, the Board will be the primary user of the Compaq data base, but will make it available to the parties, when and as convenient to the proceeding.

C. Transcript Finally, the Board has arranged with its court reporter to have the hearing itself recorded on computer readable tape so that it can be added to the proceeding database. This recording is in addition to the normal hard copy transcript requirement. Copies are obtainable by the parties under the terms of the Conmission's court reporting contract.

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l. The Board reiterates its desire to effect a system of mutual benefit to all at a minimum of effort and encourages the parties to seek affirmative solutions to any obstacles this order may present them.

Counsel or their representatives should call Jack Whetstine, Chief, ASLBP Infonnation Processing Section (Telephone: 301/492-7858), with any technical or procedural questions this proposed order raises. Mr.

Whetstine is directed to seek flexible solutions to any such problems.

ORDER Accordingly, upon consideration of the filings of the parties and the entire record in this matter, it is, this 22nd day of May,1987 ORDERED That the parties shall submit computer readable diskettes with their hard copy filings in the fann and manner described in the foregoing memorandum.

FOR THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD

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B. Pdul Cotter, Jr./ Chairman ADMINISTRATIVEJUDf Dated at Bethesda, Maryland, this 22nd day of May, 1987.

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