ML24052A386
| ML24052A386 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | North Anna  |
| Issue date: | 02/21/2024 |
| From: | Carrie Safford NRC/SECY |
| To: | Beyond Nuclear |
| SECY RAS | |
| References | |
| 50-338-SLR-2, 50-339-SLR-2 | |
| Download: ML24052A386 (5) | |
Text
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
In the Matter of
VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER Docket Nos. 50-338-SLR-2 COMPANY 50-339-SLR-2
(North Anna Power Station, Units 1 and 2)
ORDER
By Federal Register notice dated January 8, 2024, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) issued for public comment the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) concerning the
subsequent license renewal (SLR) application for North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 2. 1
The Hearing Notice also provided members of the public with a new opportunity to request a
hearing and petition for leave to intervene in the North Anna SLR proceeding, limited to
contentions based on new information in the draft EIS. The Hearing Notice established a
deadline of March 8, 2024, to file requests for a hearing or petitions for leave to intervene.
Beyond Nuclear and the Sierra Club (together, Petitioners) have submitted a motion
requesting that the Commission order the withdrawal of the Hearing Notice. 2 In support of the
motion, the Petitioners assert that issuance of the Hearing Notice was premature and not in
accordance with Commission direction in CLI-22-3. 3 In short, Petitioners assert that CLI-22-3
1 Virginia Electric and Power Company; North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 2; Draft Environmental Impact Statement, 89 Fed. Reg. 960 (Jan. 8, 2024).
2 Motion by Beyond Nuclear and Sierra Club for Withdrawal of Premature Hearing Notice (Jan. 18, 2024) (ADAMS Accession No. ML24018A150) (Withdrawal Motion); see also Errata to Motion by Beyond Nuclear and Sierra Club for Withdrawal of Premature Hearing Notice (Jan. 22, 2024) (ML24022A066).
3 Withdrawal Motion at 3-4 (citing CLI-22-3, 95 NRC 40, 42 (2022)).
requires that the NRC wait to issue the notice of opportunity for hearing in this SLR proceeding
until completion of a final EIS, not the draft EIS. 4 Both the NRC staff and Virginia Electric Power
Company, on behalf of itself and Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (together, Applicants)
oppose the Withdrawal Motion. 5
In a separate proceeding concerning the SLR application for Turkey Point Nuclear
Generating Units 3 and 4, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (Board) has certified a
question to the Commission concerning the same language in CLI-22-3 relied upon by the
Petitioners in the Withdrawal Motion. 6 Specifically, the Board seeks clarification from the
Commission whether, in light of CLI-22-3, the NRC staff should have waited to issue the notice
of opportunity for hearing in the Turkey Point SLR proceeding until completion of a final EIS,
rather than the draft EIS.7 The certified question now before the Commission in the Turkey
Point SLR proceeding is identical to the question at issue here, and the Commissions resolution
of the certified question in that proceeding will determine the disposition of the Withdrawal
Motion.
Therefore, pursuant to my authority under 10 C.F.R. § 2.346(j), the Withdrawal Motion
will be held in abeyance until the Commissions resolution of the certified question in the Turkey
Point proceeding.
The Petitioners have also filed a motion seeking immediate suspension of the deadline
to file a hearing request pending resolution of the certified question in the Turkey Point
4 Id.
5 NRC Staffs Answer to Beyond Nuclear and Sierra Clubs Motion for Withdrawal of Premature Hearing Notice (Jan. 29, 2024) (ML24029A259); Applicants Answer Opposing Beyond Nuclears and Sierra Clubs Motion for Withdrawal of Hearing Notice (Jan. 29, 2024)
(ML24029A279).
6 See Florida Power & Light Co. (Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Units 3 and 4), LBP-24-1, 99 NRC __ (Jan. 31, 2024) (slip op. at 4).
7 Id.
proceeding.8 The Applicants and the NRC staff oppose the motion. 9 I similarly hold in
abeyance this motion pending the Commissions resolution of the certified question.
The Petitioners have also filed a request seeking, in the event the Commission denies
their Withdrawal Motion, a six-week extension of time to submit a hearing request. 10 In support
of this request, the Petitioners assert that multiple legal obligations and deadlines beyond their
control in other NRC and federal proceedings, in addition to recent illness, establish the
requisite good cause to grant the extension. 11 Petitioners also assert that the Extension
Request would not harm the Applicants because North Anna Units 1 and 2 are currently
licensed to operate until 2038 and 2040, respectively. 12 The Applicants oppose the Extension
Request, asserting that litigation burden is not sufficient to demonstrate good cause. 13
I find that the Petitioners have established good cause for a partial grant of the request.14
Pursuant to my authority under 10 C.F.R. § 2.346(b), I grant Petitioners a 20-day extension to
8 See Notification of Relevance of LBP-24-01 to This Proceeding and Request to Immediately Suspend Hearing Request Deadline Pending Resolution of Certified Question Raised in LBP-24-01 (Feb. 12, 2024) (ML24043A036).
9 See Applicants Answer Opposing Beyond Nuclears and Sierra Clubs Motion to Suspend Hearing Request Deadline (Feb. 15, 2024) (ML24046A138); NRC Staffs Answer to Beyond Nuclear and Sierra Clubs Notification of Relevance of LBP-24-01 to This Proceeding and Request to Immediately Suspend Hearing Request Deadline Pending Resolution of Certified Question Raised in LBP-24-01 (Feb. 16, 2024) (ML24047A300).
10 Conditional Motion by Beyond Nuclear and Sierra Club for Extension of Time to Submit Hearing Request (Feb. 1, 2024) (ML24032A004) (Extension Request).
11 Id. at 1-2, 8; see also 10 C.F.R. § 2.307(a) (providing that the Commission or presiding officer may grant extensions of time for good cause).
12 Extension Request at 8.
13 Applicants Answer Opposing Beyond Nuclears and Sierra Clubs Conditional Motion for Extension of Time to Submit Hearing Request (Feb. 2, 2024) (ML24033A314) (Applicants Answer).
14 10 C.F.R. § 2.307(a). In support of their assertion that the Commission has expressly held that litigation burden is insufficient to demonstrate good cause, Applicants Answer at 2, the Applicants refer to the Commissions 1998 Statement of Policy on Conduct of Adjudicatory
the hearing request deadline. The Petitioners may file a request for a hearing on or before
March 28, 2024.
For the Commission
Carrie M. Safford Secretary of the Commission
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of February 2024.
Proceedings, which provides direction to hearing boards and presiding officers tasked with conducting NRC adjudications. Policy on Conduct of Adjudicatory Proceedings; Policy Statement, 63 Fed. Reg. 41,872, 41,873 (Aug. 5, 1998). The Applicants also reference Commission decisions denying requests from parties to suspend or postpone an NRC adjudicatory proceeding during the pendency of other simultaneous NRC proceedings.
Applicants Answer at 2-3 (citing Duke Cogema Stone & Webster (Savannah River Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility), CLI-01-28, 54 NRC 393, 400 (2001); Consolidated Edison Co. of New York (Indian Point, Units 1 and 2), CLI-01-8, 53 NRC 225, 229-30 (2001)). These Commission issuances do not preclude the Secretary, pursuant to 10 C.F.R. § 2.346(b), from holistically considering and providing a modest extension of time to a requesting prospective party who cites (among other things) overlapping deadlines in proceedings both within and outside the NRC.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
In the Matter of )
)
VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY ) Docket Nos. 50-338-SLR-2
) 50-339-SLR-2 (North Anna Power Station, Units 1 and 3) )
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COMMISSION have been served upon the following persons by Electronic Information Exchange.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Mail Stop: O-16B33 1111 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20555-0001 Washington, DC 20004 E-mail: ocaamail.resource@nrc.gov Scott D. Clausen, Esq.
Paul M. Bessette, Esq.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Ryan K. Lighty, Esq.
Office of the Secretary of the Commission E-mail: Paul.Bessette@morganlewis.com Mail Stop: O-16B33 Ryan.Lighty@morganlewis.com Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: hearingdocket@nrc.gov Harmon, Curran, Spielberg, & Eisenberg, LLP 1725 DeSales Street, N.W., Suite 500 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Washington, DC 20036 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Diane Curran, Esq.
Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: dcurran@harmoncurran.com E. Roy Hawkens, Chief Administrative Judge E-mail: Roy.Hawkens@nrc.gov Beyond Nuclear Reactor Oversight Project U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 7304 Carroll Avenue #182 Office of the General Counsel Takoma Park, MD 20912 Mail Stop - O-14A44 Paul Gunter Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: paul@beyondnuclear.org David E. Roth, Esq.
Sherwin E. Turk, Esq.
Susan H. Vrahoretis, Esq.
Georgiann E. Hampton, Paralegal Caitlin R. Byrd, Paralegal E-mail: David.Roth@nrc.gov Sherwin.Turk@nrc.gov Blake.Vaisey@nrc.gov Georgiann.Hampton@nrc.gov Caitlin.Byrd@nrc.gov
Office of the Secretary of the Commission
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of February 2024.