ML25217A517
| ML25217A517 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palisades  |
| Issue date: | 08/05/2025 |
| From: | Mercer J Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel |
| To: | - No Known Affiliation, Balch & Bingham, LLP, Holtec Palisades, NRC/OGC |
| SECY RAS | |
| References | |
| RAS 57439, ASLBP 25-990-02-LA-BD01, 50-255-LA-5 | |
| Download: ML25217A517 (0) | |
Text
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD PANEL Before Administrative Judges:
Jeremy A. Mercer, Chair Dr. Gary S. Arnold Dr. Arielle J. Miller In the Matter of:
HOLTEC PALISADES, LLC, (Palisades Nuclear Plant)
Docket No. 50-255-LA-5 ASLBP No. 25-990-02-LA-BD01 August 5, 2025 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Initial Prehearing Order)
This proceeding concerns Holtec Palisades, LLCs (Holtec) license amendment request for the Palisades Nuclear Plant to change the fire protection program license condition to allow for an extension of the full compliance date. See 90 Fed. Reg. 34,019 (July 18, 2025).
In short, Holtec asks to change the date for full compliance with National Fire Protection Association Standard NFPA 805 from the fourth full operating cycle after NRC approval to the fifth full operating cycle after NRC approval. Id.
In response to a Notice in the Federal Register setting September 16, 2025, as the deadline for interested persons to submit petitions to intervene, see id, Alan Blind (Blind) timely filed a Request for Hearing and Petition to Intervene (Petition) and a Motion for Procedural Relief Pursuant to 10 CFR § 2.323 Request for Board Action to Preserve Adjudicatory Jurisdiction and Prevent Premature Fuel Loading (Motion), both dated July 30, 2025. See Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML25211A234 (Petition); ADAMS Accession No. ML25211A236 (Motion). On Sunday, August 3, 2025, Blind filed a Supplemental One, to July 30, 2025 Petition Submittal, to Add Contention Two and Basis for Same (Supplement 1). See ADAMS Accession No. ML25215A001. On Monday, August 4, 2025, Blind filed a Supplement to Petitioners Motion for Procedural Relief Pursuant to 10 CFR § 2.323. See ADAMS Accession No. ML25216A030. On Tuesday, August 5, 2025, Blind filed Petitioners Motion to Withdraw Prior Procedural Motions
[sic] Filed Under 10 C.F.R. § 2.323 (Withdrawal Motion). See ADAMS Accession No. ML25217A009.
On July 31, 2025, the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (Commission) Secretary referred the Petition and Motion to the Chief Administrative Judge for appropriate action. See ADAMS Accession No. ML25212A101. On August 5, 2025, this Licensing Board (Board) was established to rule on standing and contention admissibility matters and to preside at any hearing. See Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (August 5, 2025).
I.
BRIEFING SCHEDULE Given that (i) the deadline for filing timely contentions does not expire until September 16, 2025, (ii) Blind already has filed one supplement to his Petition, one supplement to his Motion, and a Motion to Withdraw the Motion and (iii) in a recent proceeding wherein Blind was a filing participant he filed myriad supplements, the Board hereby directs that Blind not file additional interim Supplements but file any additional contentions or supplemental information in one filing on or shortly before the September 16, 2025, timely contention expiration date. This direction is made in an effort to control the prehearing process, ensure the docket is as manageable as possible, streamline the proceedings, reduce the workload of all participants and the Board, and set reasonable schedules for the conduct of the proceedings.
See generally 10 C.F.R. § 2.319.
Pursuant to 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(i), Answers to the Petition, Supplement 1, and any further final Supplement that Blind may file (see prior paragraph) may be filed by Tuesday, October 14, 2025. Considering the Withdrawal Motion, the Board is not requiring Answers to the Motion or the Withdrawal Motion.
Should Blind choose to file any Reply, that Reply must be filed no later than Tuesday, October 21, 2025. If he chooses to file a Reply, Blind should file one document in Reply to all Answers to the Petition, Supplement 1, and any further final Supplement. Any Reply that Blind chooses to file should be brief and targeted to the new argument(s) or fact(s) in the Answers; it should not raise new arguments or include new support for the contentions. The foregoing Reply due date shall apply even if an Answer is filed prior to the above-noted date for Answers.
Any failure to E-File by an above-noted date, or to seek and receive a timely extension (see below), will result in the Board not considering the untimely filing.
II.
ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS The Board requires that Blind and all counsel for the participants read and comply with this Initial Prehearing Order. If any participant files a motion seeking to modify or excuse compliance with any part of this Initial Prehearing Order, that motion shall include a demonstration of good cause for the requested modification/excused compliance and a certification that the movant (in the case of Blind) or the movants counsel (in the case of any other participant) read this Initial Prehearing Order in its entirety upon issuance by the Board.
Cf. Statement of Policy on Conduct of Adjudicatory Proceedings, CLI-98-12, 48 NRC 18, 21 (1998).
A.
NOTICE OF APPEARANCE Each counsel shall file a Notice of Appearance, in compliance with 10 C.F.R. § 2.314(b),
via the Commissions E-Filing system within seven (7) calendar days of the date of this Initial Prehearing Order.1 B.
SUBMISSIONS All submissions shall be double spaced and use a font no smaller than 11-point, including for footnotes. The Board encourages all participants to keep their use of footnotes to 1
For assistance with the Commissions E-Filing system, please contact the Electronic Filing Help Desk via its webpage (https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/contact-us-eie.html). Alternatively, one may contact the Help Desk by telephone (toll free) at 866-672-7640. The Help Desks hours of operation are 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Eastern time, Monday through Friday (excluding Government holidays).
a minimum. String citations are not encouraged; all authorities cited should be necessary. All submissions shall include the date of the submission in the caption, in a location similar to that of the date in the caption of this Initial Prehearing Order. Include page numbers in the top margin; no other text, except privacy/confidentiality markings for documents submitted on the non-public docket, may appear within a margin. Any submission of more than 15 pages in length, excluding Attachments (see Subsection G., below), should include a Table of Contents.
Headings are useful navigation tools and help break up long arguments/analysis; but be sure to format heading levels consistently throughout the submission.
The Board prefers the use of an introduction laying out your argument in a succinct fashion, roadmap paragraphs within each section of your pleading/submission, and strong topic sentences in each paragraph. Try to use short sentences, with plain language, that use active voice. Strive to eliminate adjectives and adverbs, unless necessary, and keep rhetoric to a minimum. Avoid repetition. Do not stretch arguments beyond what they and the legal/factual support can bear. See, e.g., 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(d).
Considering the above, the Board currently is not imposing a page or word limitation on submissions but retains discretion to impose such limitations in the future.
C.
USE OF GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The Board is aware of the development of and use of generative Artificial Intelligence in the legal community. At this time, the Board is not making a judgment about whether such use is appropriate, nor will it require any separate filing/attestation as to whether generative AI was used or, if used, whether the results were checked by humans. But the Board will consider the signature on any submission to be a certification that the signer has made an independent determination that the submission is supported by appropriate and accurate references to legal authority and factual basis. 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(d); cf. 10 C.F.R. § 2.304(d); see also Policy on Conduct of Adjudicatory Proceedings, 48 NRC at 22. The Board also has discretion to impose sanctions if necessary and appropriate, e.g., should a submission include reference to non-existent legal authority. See, e.g., 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(d).2 D.
MOTIONS Unless some other time is specified in the Commissions rules or by the Board (e.g., see below), motions are due not later than 10 calendar days after the occurrence or circumstances from which the motion arises. See 10 C.F.R. §§ 2.306(a), 2.323(a)(2). All motions shall be accompanied by a proposed order that grants the specific relief requested, e.g., not simply The motion is granted. See 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(b). All motions also must include a separate, signed certification that (i) details the good faith efforts undertaken by the movant to resolve the issue raised in the motion or to seek concurrence in the motion from the other participants3 and (ii) states whether each of the other participants opposes or does not oppose the motion. See 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(b). The Board will deny any motion that lacks such a certification. See id.
Motions to file new/amended contention(s) after the September 16 deadline, and the accompanying new/amended contention(s), will be considered timely under 10 C.F.R.
§ 2.309(c)(1)(iii) if filed not later than 30 days after the date upon which the information that is the basis of the motion becomes available.
Motions for extension of time are due not later than three (3) business days before the due date seeking to be extended. See 10 C.F.R. § 2.307(b).
2 See also Statement of Policy on Conduct of Licensing Proceedings, CLI-81-8, 13 NRC 452, 454 (1981) (outlining some of the sanctions the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel has available when a participant fails to meet its obligations and urging that [a]t an early stage in the proceeding, a board should make all parties aware of the Commissions policies in this regard).
3 A certification that includes something akin to the statement that good faith efforts were undertaken to resolve the issue raised in this motion, without success is insufficient. Rather, the description should include what efforts were undertaken (i.e., email, in-person, or telephone/video) and when. Communication that does not provide the recipient(s) with the reason(s) for the motion or sufficient time to consider the request and respond is not demonstrative of good faith efforts to resolve an issue or seek concurrence.
E.
ANSWERS/OPPOSITIONS TO MOTIONS Except for the motions noted below, answers/oppositions to any motion are due not later than 10 calendar days after service of the motion to which the answer/opposition is being filed.
See 10 C.F.R. §§ 2.306(a), 2.323(c).
Answers/oppositions to motions to file new/amended contention(s) are due 25 calendar days after service of the motion. See 10 C.F.R. §§ 2.306(a), 2.309(i)(1).
Answers/oppositions to a motion for extension of time or for leave to file a reply (see below) are due not later than the end of the first business day after service of the motion being opposed.
F.
REPLIES Any permitted reply must be filed within seven (7) calendar days of the service of the answer/opposition to which it replies. See 10 C.F.R. §§ 2.306(a), 2.307(b), 2.309(i)(2). Replies should be brief and targeted to the new argument(s) or fact(s) in the answer/opposition.
Participants who file a motion for leave to file new/amended contention(s) are permitted to file a reply as-of-right. See 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(i)(2).
Participants who desire to file a reply in support of any other submission must seek and obtain permission from the Board to file that reply. See 10 C.F.R. § 2.323(c). By rule, no reply will be permitted absent compelling circumstances, which the movant must demonstrate in the motion. Id. Examples of compelling circumstances encompass the inclusion in the answer of (i) an argument that the movant reasonably could not have anticipated, or (ii) new facts.
The movant must file its motion for leave to file a reply not later than four (4) calendar days after service of the answer to which the reply is sought. If the Board grants the motion, unless (i) the proposed Reply was attached to the motion or (ii) the motion also seeks and supports a different due date and the Board agrees, the reply will be due not later than seven (7) calendar days after the service of the answer to which the reply is directed. See 10 C.F.R.
§§ 2.307(b), 2.323(c).
G.
ATTACHMENTS TO FUTURE SUBMISSIONS If a participant chooses to append document(s) to any future submission, that/those document(s) should be identified as Attachments, not as Exhibits,4 with a unique numeric or alpha designation on each Attachment (e.g., Attachment 1 or Attachment A) in the upper-right corner of the first page (which may be in the margin, under the page number) or centered on a cover page immediately preceding the document. For submissions with more than three Attachments, the Board prefers for the submission to include a Table of Attachments behind the signature page of the submission and before the first Attachment. The Table of Attachments should identify each Attachment with an appropriate and non-argumentative title and provide the number of pages in each Attachment (excluding the cover page, if cover pages are used).
Attachments shall be included, in order, as part of the single portable document format (PDF) file (i.e., submission, attachments, certificate of service) when the file is uploaded to the Commissions E-Filing system. The filer should use multiple PDF files for a filing only if the filing exceeds the size limit of the E-Filing system (currently 1,000 MB). See Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC (Rev. 10), § 2.3, p. 6 (May 30, 2023) (available at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html). If the filing exceeds the size limit, the filer should break down the filing into the fewest multiple PDF files that comply with the limit.
H.
UNAVAILABILITY OF E-FILING SYSTEM Per the Commissions direction, see 72 Fed. Reg. 49,139, 49,145 (Aug. 28, 2007),
participants should employ the following backup method for filing if the E-Filing system is unavailable. The participant should submit the filing (in appropriate PDF filessee Subsection G., above) via email to the Boards law clerk, Ms. Dean at whitlee.dean@nrc.gov, (copying all other counsel/Blind) with the ASLBP Docket Number and technical failure in the subject line.
4 The use of Exhibit is reserved for documents/items submitted prior to or at a hearing (should one occur) for inclusion in the evidentiary record of the proceeding.
The participant also must include in the email, as a separate PDF file, a signed and sworn affidavit detailing the unsuccessful attempts (see next paragraph) to file via the E-Filing system.
This backup method is not available for use unless the participant has attempted to file using the E-Filing system at least two times, more than one hour apart, after noon Eastern time and was not able to file due to a technical failure on the part of the Commissions E-Filing system. Problems on the participants end, such as internet connections or hardware/software issues, do not constitute a technical failure on the part of the Commissions E-Filing system.
III.
INITIAL PREHEARING CONFERENCE The Board has not determined yet whether it will hold an initial prehearing conference to hear argument regarding standing and contention admissibility but will make that determination later. If the Board determines that oral argument is warranted, counsel/representatives shall be prepared to discuss, among other things, the authorities and facts cited in the relevant submissions.5 IV.
LIMITED APPEARANCE STATEMENTS Since the beginning of the Commissions existence, the Commission has determined that public participation is a vital ingredient in the open and full consideration of licensing issues and in establishing public confidence in the sound discharge of the important duties which have been entrusted to the Commission. N. States Power Co. (Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2), CLI-75-1, 1 NRC 1, 2 (1975). One of the cornerstones of the NRCs regulatory approach has always been ensuring that its review processes and decisionmaking 5
Additionally, should oral argument be held, the Board is amenable to including an appropriately prepared new/junior attorney in the argument, consistent with counsels ethical obligations and client direction. If a new/junior attorney does participate, the Board will allow a more experienced lawyer to back up the new/junior attorney. The Board also will allow the new/junior attorney to handle a discrete part of the argument, e.g., one of multiple contentions, with the more experienced back up lawyer handling the balance of the argument, so that the new/junior attorney is not required to handle the entirety of the argument. The Board will regulate the argument to ensure that all sides receive fair treatment and to avoid any undue prolonging of the argument. See 10 C.F.R. §§ 2.319(e), (k), 2.331.
[sic] are open, understandable, and accessible to all interested parties. 69 Fed. Reg. 2182, 2182 (Jan. 14, 2004).
At some point later in this proceeding, the Board will determine whether it intends to conduct an oral limited appearance statements session. But considering the foregoing public participation policy of the Commission, and in accord with 10 C.F.R. § 2.315(a), any person not a participant to this proceeding who wishes to make a statement regarding the issues in this proceeding may do so in writing by way of a limited appearance statement. Limited appearance statements, which are placed on the docket of this proceeding and, accordingly, are made available to the public, provide the public with an opportunity to make the Board and/or the participants aware of any concerns about matters at issue in this proceeding. By rule, though, limited appearance statements, whether written or oral, shall not be considered evidence in the proceeding. 10 C.F.R. § 2.315(a).
Any person who desires to submit a written limited appearance statement, at any time in this proceeding, must identify clearly this proceeding (preferably by use of the docket number) and send the written statement to the Office of the Secretary using one of the methods below:
Mail:
Office of the Secretary Attn: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 Fax:
(301) 415-1101 (verification (301) 415-1677))
Email:
hearing.docket@nrc.gov IT IS SO ORDERED.
FOR THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD Jeremy A. Mercer, Chair Administrative Judge Rockville, Maryland August 5, 2025
/RA/
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of
)
)
HOLTEC PALISADES, LLC
)
Docket No. 50-255-LA-5
)
)
(Palisades Nuclear Plant)
)
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Initial Prehearing Order) have been served upon the following persons by Electronic Information Exchange.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication Mail Stop: O-16B33 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: ocaamail.resource@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the Secretary of the Commission Mail Stop: O-16B33 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: hearingdocket@nrc.gov Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Jeremy A. Mercer, Chair Dr. Gary S. Arnold, Administrative Judge Dr. Arielle J. Miller, Administrative Judge Whitlee Dean, Law Clerk Georgia Rock, Law Clerk Email: jeremy.mercer@nrc.gov gary.arnold@nrc.gov arielle.miller@nrc.gov whitlee.dean@nrc.gov georgia.rock@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the General Counsel Mail Stop - O-14A44 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Kevin D. Bernstein, Esq.
Anita G. Naber, Esq.
Susan H. Vrahoretis, Esq.
David Roth, Esq.
Samuel Stephens, Esq.
Stacy Schumann, Team Leader Anne Fream, Paralegal Georgia Hampton, Paralegal Joelysa Mcleod, Paralegal Email: kevin.bernstein@nrc.gov anita.ghoshnaber@nrc.gov susan.vrahoretis@nrc.gov david.roth@nrc.gov samuel.stephens@nrc.gov stacy.schumann@nrc.gov anne.fream@nrc.gov georgiann.hampton@nrc.gov joelysa.mcleod@nrc.gov
Palisades Nuclear Plant, Docket No. 50-255-LA-5 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Initial Prehearing Order) 2 Counsel for Holtec Palisades, LLC Balch and Bingham LLP 1710 Sixth Avenue North Birmingham, AL 35203 M. Stanford Blanton, Esq.
Grant Eskelsen, Esq.
Alan D. Lovett, Esq.
Jason B. Tompkins, Esq.
Email: sblanton@balch.com geskelsen@balch.com alovett@balch.com jtompkins@balrch.com Representative for the Petitioners (who reside within the Palisades Emergency Planning Zone)
Arthur Blind 1000 West Shawnee Road Baroda, MI 49101 Email: a.alan.blind@gmail.com Office of the Secretary of the Commission Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day of August 2025.
CLARA SOLA Digitally signed by CLARA SOLA Date: 2025.08.05 14:35:10 -04'00'