ML23065A201
| ML23065A201 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Comanche Peak  |
| Issue date: | 03/06/2023 |
| From: | Bollwerk G Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel |
| To: | Sue Abreu, Gary Arnold Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel |
| SECY RAS | |
| References | |
| RAS 56666, 50-445-LR, 50-446-LR, ASLBP 23?978?01-LR-BD01 | |
| Download: ML23065A201 (0) | |
Text
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD PANEL Before the Licensing Board:
G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Chair Dr. Gary S. Arnold Dr. Sue H. Abreu In the Matter of Docket Nos. 50-445-LR 50-446-LR VISTRA OPERATIONS COMPANY, LLC ASLBP No. 2397801-LR-BD01 (Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2) March 6, 2023 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Initial Prehearing Order Supplement)
In this proceeding concerning Vistra Operations Co., LLCs (Vistra) October 2022 request for an initial extension of the 10 C.F.R. Part 50 operating licenses for its Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2, pending before the Licensing Board is a March 1, 2023 amended hearing petition from Citizens for Fair Utility Regulation (CFUR) challenging various aspects of the Vistra application. 10F As we have noted previously, the timing of CFURs January 30, 2023 initial intervention request and the Commissions January 30 and February 6, 2023 orders extending the time for submitting a hearing petition in this proceeding until March 1, 2023, created some uncertainty about the briefing schedule for Vistra and NRC Staff answers and any CFUR reply pleading 1 See Amended Petition for Leave to Intervene and Request for Hearing of [CFUR]
(Mar. 1, 2023) [hereinafter CFUR Amended Petition].
consistent with 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(i). 2 As a consequence, in a February 13, 2023 issuance 1F ruling on a Vistra/CFUR joint motion regarding the schedule for such filings, we established alternative briefing schedules: one that would apply if additional hearing petitions, or a revision of the January 30, 2023 CFUR hearing petition, were submitted by the March 1, 2023 filing deadline, with the other applying if no further new or amended hearing requests were filed by March 1. See Board Briefing Schedule Order at 4-5.
Because an amended CFUR hearing petition was lodged on March 1, 2023, 3 per our2F February 13 directive the following section 2.309(i) briefing schedule will apply:
Vistra and NRC Staff Answers On or before Monday, March 27, 2023 CFUR Reply to Vistra/NRC Answers On or before Monday, April 3, 2023.
2 See Licensing Board Memorandum and Order (Initial Prehearing Order) (Feb. 8, 2023) at 2-3 (unpublished); Licensing Board Memorandum and Order (Granting in Part and Denying in Part Joint Motion to Adjust Briefing Schedule) (Feb. 13, 2023) at 2-5 (unpublished)
[hereinafter Board Briefing Schedule Order]; see also Petition for Leave to Intervene and Request for Hearing of [CFUR] (Jan. 30, 2023); Commission Order (Jan. 30, 2023) at 2 (unpublished); Commission Order (Feb. 6, 2023) at 2 (unpublished) [hereinafter Commission February 9, 2023 Order]; In the Matter of [Vistra] (Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2; Order, 88 Fed. Reg 8481 (Feb. 9, 2023).
3 As CFUR counsel explained in a March 2, 2023 e-mail, in response to four March 1 pre-midnight attempts to submit the CFUR amended hearing petition using the agencys E-Filing system, he received E-Filing system confirmation that the petition had been received, but no follow-on service e-mail to the other participants and the Licensing Board was sent. See E-mail from W. David Griggs, CFUR Counsel, to Service List (Mar. 2, 2023, 01:34 EST) (forwarding CFUR amended hearing petition and attachments). E-Filing system records confirm this, showing that his initial filing attempt was received by the system at 10:43 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on March 1 and that the service e-mails associated with CFUR counsels repeated attempts to submit the amended petition finally went out at 6:40 a.m. ET on March 2. Given that (1) the CFUR filings were all received by the E-Filing system on or before midnight on March 1 and were served within less than seven hours after the March 1 filing deadline; and (2) the delay serving the participants and the Board apparently was due to unforeseen complications during an information technology upgrade, we see no basis for any plausible assertion that the CFUR amended petition was untimely filed or that any of the participants suffered appreciable prejudice as a result of the service delay.
Additionally, after reviewing the CFUR amended hearing request, 4 we wish to advise the 3F participants that if the Board determines that an initial prehearing conference/oral argument is to be held in this case, the Board would like to conduct the conference during the week of April 17, 2023. Accordingly, the participants will be provided with a list of proposed dates/times for the argument to take place during the week of April 17, 2023, via an e-mail through the Boards law clerk Allison Wood (allison.wood@nrc.gov), which is being sent contemporaneously with the issuance of this memorandum and order. The Board requests that on or before noon ET on Monday, March 13, 2023, one representative of the participants to this proceeding send a single e-mail to Ms. Wood, with a copy to the other participants, listing one or more agreed dates and times during which all the participants will be available for this conference.
If the prehearing conference is to be held, the Board anticipates conducting the oral argument from its Rockville, Maryland hearing room, with participant representatives afforded the opportunity to appear either in person or remotely using the Cisco WebEx web conferencing platform. In that regard, the e-mail requested above providing the dates and times the participants are available for a prehearing conference the week of April 17, 2023, should also indicate the location from which each participant counsel intends to participate in the conference, i.e., in person in Rockville, Maryland, or remotely.
Once a Licensing Board decision is made about moving forward with the initial prehearing conference, the Board will provide an additional issuance memorializing its decision regarding holding the conference. Further, if the Board decides to conduct the conference, in that order (or subsequent orders) the Board will (1) confirm the date and time of the conference; 4 Because the Commission extended the time for filing an intervention petition regarding the Vistra license extension application until March 1, 2023 for all persons, Commission February 9, 2023 Order at 2, CFURs March 1, 2023 amended petition does not need to meet the additional requirements under 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(c)(1) for a post-deadline amended filing.
(2) supply listen-only call-in information for the public and interested parties; (3) provide procedural information about the conference; and (4) furnish information to the participants counsel about any particular questions or issues they should be prepared to address during the conference.
In addition, for those who wish to participate remotely, at an appropriate juncture Ms.
Wood will contact the participants counsel by e-mail to (1) schedule a test session conducted by the Licensing Board Panels Information Technology staff to identify and mitigate any technical issues concerning access to the conference; and (2) provide information about accessing the Cisco WebEx web conference by the participants counsel.
It is so ORDERED.
FOR THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD
/RA/
G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Chair ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE Rockville, Maryland March 6, 2023
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of )
)
VISTRA OPERATIONS COMPANY, LLC ) Docket Nos. 50-445-LR
) 50-446-LR (Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, )
Units 1 and 2) )
)
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Initial Prehearing Order Supplement) have been served upon the following persons by Electronic Information Exchange.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mail Stop: O-16B33 Office of the General Counsel Washington, DC 20555-0001 Mail Stop - O-14A44 E-mail: ocaamail.resource@nrc.gov Washington, DC 20555-0001 Marcia Carpentier Ethan P. Licon U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission David E. Roth Office of the Secretary of the Commission Susan H. Vrahoretis Mail Stop: O-16B33 E-mail: Marcia.Carpentier@nrc.gov Washington, DC 20555-0001 Ethan.Licon@nrc.gov E-mail: hearingdocket@nrc.gov David.Roth@nrc.gov Susan.Vrahoretis@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Counsel for Vistra Operations Mail Stop: T-3F23 Company, LLC Washington, DC 20555-0001 Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLC G. Paul Bollwerk, Chairman 1111 Pennsylvania Ave NW Dr. Sue H. Abreu, Administrative Judge Washington, DC 20004 Dr. Gary S. Arnold, Administrative Judge Ryan K. Lighty Noel M. Johnson, Law Clerk Paul Bessette Emily G. Newman, Law Clerk Timothy Matthews Allison R. Wood, Law Clerk E-mail: ryan.lighty@morganlewis.com E-mail: Paul.Bollwerk@nrc.gov paul.bessette@morganlewis.com Sue.Abreu@nrc.gov timothy.matthews@morganlewis.com Gary.Arnold@nrc.gov Noel.Johnson@nrc.gov Emily.Newman@nrc.gov Allison.Wood@nrc.goc
Vistra Operations Company, LLC (Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2)
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Initial Prehearing Order Supplement)
Counsel for Citizens for Fair Utility Regulation W. David Griggs 1925 Belt Line Road Suite 552 Carrollton, TX 75006 E-mail: david@dgriggs.com Clara I. Digitally signed by Clara I. Sola Sola Date: 2023.03.06 14:02:01 -05'00' Office of the Secretary of the Commission Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of March 2023.
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