ML18074A048

Letter from Chairman Kristine Svinicki to Robert Halstead Re March 5, 2018 Meeting with Representatives from Nye County

ML18074A048
Person / Time
Site:	06300001
Issue date:	03/15/2018
From:	Kristine Svinicki NRC/Chairman
To:	Halstead R Agency for Nuclear Projects
SECY RAS
References
ASLBP 09-892-HLW-CAB04, RAS 54245, HLW License App 63-001 CAB04
Download: ML18074A048 (9)

Text

March 15, 2018 Robert J. Halstead Executive Director Agency for Nuclear Projects 1761 E. College Parkway, Suite 118 Carson City, NV 89706-7954

Dear Mr. Halstead,

I have received your letter dated March, 12, 2018, which poses questions regarding my March 5, 2018, meeting with representatives from Nye County. Please find responses to your seven questions below.

(1) Why, and when, did you agree to meet in private with Nye County?

Like many NRC Commissioners, I have a long-standing open door policy, under which I routinely accept requests from stakeholders to meet on a variety of topics. The open door policy enhances agency openness, which is one of the NRCs Principles of Good Regulation. I received a request from Nye County representatives to meet on February 23 of this year, and pursuant to my open-door policy, I agreed to the request.

(2) Why were the other parties not notified in advance of the meeting?

There is no NRC requirement that NRC Commissioners, or other adjudicatory employees, notify the parties to an adjudicatory proceeding prior to meeting with a litigant. However, given the high level of public interest in this proceeding, and to further the interests of transparency, I posted a notification of this meeting on the docket shortly after the meeting.

(3) What was the purpose of the meeting?

As noted above, I scheduled this meeting at Nye Countys request. Based on the discussion during the meeting, I believe that Nye Countys purpose in scheduling the meeting was to describe infrastructure developments over the past decade in Nye County that could be used to host adjudicatory activities if the adjudication were to restart.

2 (4) Who attended the meeting?

The meeting was attended by Dan Schinhofen, Commissioner, Nye County; Lorinda Wichman, Commissioner, Nye County; Tim Sutton, Manager, Nye County; and Rick Spees, Akerman Law Firm. I was accompanied by Maxwell Smith, my senior legal counsel and Richard Harper, my legal counsel.

(5) What was discussed at the meeting?

I opened the meeting by reminding the participants that, in light of the NRCs ex parte communications rule, we could not discuss any pending adjudicatory challenges, or contentions, to the Department of Energys construction authorization application. The representatives from Nye County acknowledged that they understood this restriction. As noted above, the representatives from Nye County discussed infrastructure developments in Nye County over the last decade, such as increased hotel capacity, the availability of larger meeting venues, and widened highway lanes. Nye Countys representatives asserted that should the adjudicatory proceeding restart, Nye County facilities would be capable of hosting some or all of the hearings in light of these developments.

(6) Were any promises or commitments made at the meeting?

No.

(7) Were any materials distributed at the meeting or any meeting summaries or notes prepared after the meeting?

No materials were distributed at the meeting, and no meeting summaries or notes were prepared after the meeting.

Should you have any further questions or require any additional information, please contact my Senior Legal Counsel, Maxwell C. Smith, at (301) 415-1850.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Kristine L. Svinicki

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

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Docket No. 63-001-HLW (High-Level Waste Repository)

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ASLBP No. 09-892-HLW-CAB04

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN KRISTINE SVINICKI TO ROBERT HALSTEAD have been served upon the following persons by Electronic Information Exchange and by e-mail.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLBP)

Mail Stop T-3F23 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Construction Authorization Board 04 (CAB04)

Thomas S. Moore, Chair Administrative Judge thomas.moore@nrc.gov Paul S. Ryerson Administrative Judge paul.ryerson@nrc.gov Richard E. Wardwell Administrative Judge richard.wardwell@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the General Counsel Mail Stop O-14A44 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Carrie Safford, Esq.

carrie.safford@nrc.gov Jessica Bielecki, Esq.

jessica.bielecki@nrc.gov OGC Mail Center OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication Mail Stop O-7H4M Washington, DC 20555-0001 OCAA Mail Center ocaamail@nrc.gov U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of the Secretary of the Commission Mail Stop O-4F00 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Hearing Docket hearingdocket@nrc.gov

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (High Level Waste Repository) Docket No. 63-001-HLW LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN KRISTINE SVINICKI TO ROBERT HALSTEAD 2

U.S. Department of Energy Office of General Counsel 1000 Independence Avenue S.W.

Washington, DC 20585 Martha S. Crosland, Esq.

martha.crosland@hq.doe.gov Nicholas P. DiNunzio, Esq.

nick.dinunzio@rw.doe.gov James Bennett McRae ben.mcrae@hq.doe.gov Cyrus Nezhad, Esq.

cyrus.nezhad@hq.doe.gov Christina C. Pak, Esq.

christina.pak@hq.doe.gov Office of Counsel, Naval Sea Systems Command Nuclear Propulsion Program 1333 Isaac Hull Avenue, SE, Building 197 Washington, DC 20376 Frank A. Putzu, Esq.

frank.putzu@navy.mil For U.S. Department of Energy Talisman International, LLC 1000 Potomac St., NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20007 Patricia Larimore, Senior Paralegal plarimore@talisman-intl.com Counsel for U.S. Department of Energy Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP 1111 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20004 Lewis M. Csedrik, Esq.

lcsedrik@morganlewis.com Thomas D. Poindexter, Esq.

tpoindexter@morganlewis.com Alex S. Polonsky, Esq.

apolonsky@morganlewis.com Thomas A. Schmutz, Esq.

tschmutz@morganlewis.com Paul J. Zaffuts, Esq.

pzaffuts@morganlewis.com Andrea Preate-Regni, Esq.

apreate-regni@morganlewis.com Shannon Staton, Legal Secretary sstaton@morganlewis.com Elaine M. Hirsch, Legal Secretary ehirsch@morganlewis.com

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (High Level Waste Repository) Docket No. 63-001-HLW LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN KRISTINE SVINICKI TO ROBERT HALSTEAD 3

Counsel for State of Nevada Egan, Fitzpatrick, Malsch & Lawrence, PLLC 1750 K Street, NW, Suite 350 Washington, DC 20006 Martin G. Malsch, Esq.

mmalsch@nuclearlawyer.com Susan Montesi:

smontesi@nuclearlawyer.com Counsel for State of Nevada Egan, Fitzpatrick, Malsch & Lawrence, PLLC 7500 Rialto Boulevard Building 1, Suite 250 Austin, TX 78735 Charles J. Fitzpatrick, Esq.

cfitzpatrick@nuclearlawyer.com John W. Lawrence, Esq.

jlawrence@nuclearlawyer.com Laurie Borski, Paralegal lborski@nuclearlawyer.com Bureau of Government Affairs Nevada Attorney General 100 N. Carson Street Carson City, NV 89701 Marta Adams, Chief Deputy Attorney General madams@ag.nv.gov Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects Nuclear Waste Project Office 1761 East College Parkway, Suite 118 Carson City, NV 89706 Steve Frishman, Tech. Policy Coordinator steve.frishman@gmail.com Susan Lynch, Administrator of Technical Prgms szeee@nuc.state.nv.us Nye County Regulatory/Licensing Advisor 18160 Cottonwood Rd. #265 Sunriver, OR 97707 Malachy Murphy, Esq.

mrmurphy@chamberscable.com Nye Co. Nuclear Waste Repository Project Office 2101 E. Calvada Boulevard, Suite 100 Pahrump, NV 89048 Celeste Sandoval, Quality Assurance Records Spec.

csandoval@co.nye.nv.us Counsel for Lincoln County, Nevada Whipple Law Firm 1100 S. Tenth Street Las Vegas, NV 89017 Annie Bailey, Legal Assistant baileys@lcturbonet.com Adam L. Gill, Esq.

adam.whipplelaw@yahoo.com Eric Hinckley, Law Clerk erichinckley@yahoo.com Bret Whipple, Esq.

bretwhipple@nomademail.com Lincoln County District Attorney P. O. Box 60 Pioche, NV 89403 Gregory Barlow, Esq.

lcda@lcturbonet.com Lincoln County Nuclear Oversight Program P.O. Box 1068 Caliente, NV 89008 Connie Simkins, Coordinator connie@lcnop.com For Lincoln County, Nevada Intertech Services Corporation PO Box 2008 Carson City, NV 89702 Mike Baughman, Consultant mikebaughman@charter.net Counsel for Nye, County, Nevada 601 Pennsylvania Avenue NW North Building, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20004 Robert Andersen, Esq.

randersen@clarkhill.com Christopher Clare, Esq.

cclare@clarkhill.com

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (High Level Waste Repository) Docket No. 63-001-HLW LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN KRISTINE SVINICKI TO ROBERT HALSTEAD 4

Clark County, Nevada 500 S. Grand Central Parkway Las Vegas, NV 98155 Phil Klevorick, Sr. Mgmt Analyst klevorick@clarkcountynv.gov Elizabeth A. Vibert, Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth.Vibert@ClarkCountyDA.com Counsel for Eureka County, Nevada Harmon, Curran, Speilberg & Eisenberg, LLP 1726 M Street N.W., Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036 Diane Curran, Esq.

dcurran@harmoncurran.com Eureka County, Nevada Office of the District Attorney 701 S. Main Street, Box 190 Eureka, NV 89316-0190 Theodore Beutel, District Attorney tbeutel.ecda@eurekanv.org Nuclear Waste Advisory for Eureka County, Nevada 1983 Maison Way Carson City, NV 89703 Abigail Johnson, Consultant eurekanrc@gmail.com For White Pine County, Nevada Intertech Services Corporation PO Box 2008 Carson City, NV 89702 Mike Baughman, Consultant mikebaughman@charter.net For Eureka County, Nevada NWOP Consulting, Inc.

1705 Wildcat Lane Ogden, UT 84403 Loreen Pitchford, Consultant nwop@comcast.net Eureka County Public Works PO Box 714 Eureka, NV 89316 Ronald Damele, Director rdamele@eurekanv.org Counsel for Churchill, Esmeralda, Lander, and Mineral Counties, Nevada Armstrong Teasdale, LLP 3770 Howard Hughes Parkway Suite 200 Las Vegas, NV 89169 Tara Baugh tbaugh@armstrongteasdale.com Kolesar & Leatham 400 S. Rampart Boulevard Suite 400 Las Vegas, NV 89145 Robert F. List, Esq.

rlist@klnevada.com Esmeralda County Repository Oversight Program-Yucca Mountain Project PO Box 490 Goldfield, NV 89013 Edwin Mueller, Director muellered@msn.com Mineral County Nuclear Projects Office P.O. Box 1600 Hawthorne, NV 89415 Linda Mathias, Director yuccainfo@mineralcountynv.org For Lincoln and White Pine County, Nevada Jason Pitts, LSN Administrator P.O. Box 126 Caliente, NV 89008 jayson@idtservices.com

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (High Level Waste Repository) Docket No. 63-001-HLW LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN KRISTINE SVINICKI TO ROBERT HALSTEAD 5

For White Pine County, Nevada Michael Wheable, District Attorney 801 Clark Street, Suite 3 Ely, NV 89301 mwheable@whitepinecountynv.gov White Pine Co. Nuclear Waste Project Ofc 959 Campton Street Ely, NV 89301 Mike Simon, Director wpnucwst1@mwpower.net Counsel for Inyo County, California Gregory L. James, Attorney at Law 712 Owens Gorge Road HC 79, Box Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546 E-Mail: gljames@earthlink.net Counsel for Inyo County, California Law Office of Michael Berger 479 El Sueno Road Santa Barbara, CA 93110 Michael Berger, Esq.

michael@lawofficeofmichaelberger.com Robert Hanna, Esq.

robert@lawofficeofmichaelberger.com Inyo Co Yucca Mtn Repository Assessment Ofc P. O. Box 367 Independence, CA 93526-0367 Cathreen Richards, Associate Planner crichards@inyocounty.us Counsel for State of Washington Office of the Attorney General P. O. Box 40117 Olympia, WA 98504-0117 Todd R. Bowers, Esq.

toddb@atg.wa.gov Andrew A. Fitz, Esq.

andyf@atg.wa.gov Michael L. Dunning, Esq.

michaeld@atg.wa.gov H. Lee Overton, Esq.

leeo1@atg.wa.gov Danielle French, Esq.

daniellef@atg.wa.gov Teresa Trippel, Esq.

teresat@atg.wa.gov California Energy Commission 1516 Ninth Street Sacramento, CA 95814 Kirk C. Oliver, Esq.

Senior Staff Counsel kirk.oliver@energy.ca.gov California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General 1515 Clay Street, 20th Fl, PO Box 70550 Oakland, CA 94612-0550 Timothy E. Sullivan, Deputy Attorney General timothy.Sullivan@doj.ca.gov California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General 300 S. Spring Street, Suite 1702 Los Angeles, CA 90013 Megan Hey, Esq.

megan.hey@doj.ca.gov Counsel for State of South Carolina Davidson & Lindemann, P.A.

1611 Devonshire Drive P.O. Box 8568 Columbia, SC 29202 Kenneth P. Woodington, Esq.

kwoodington@dml-law.com Counsel for Aiken County, SC Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, PA 1201 Main Street, Suite 2200 P. O. Box 11889 Columbia, SC 29211-1889 Thomas R. Gottshall, Esq.

tgottshall@hsblawfirm.com Ross Shealy, Esq.

rshealy@hsblawfirm.com

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (High Level Waste Repository) Docket No. 63-001-HLW LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN KRISTINE SVINICKI TO ROBERT HALSTEAD 6

Florida Public Service Commission Office of the General Counsel 2540 Shumard Oak Boulevard Tallahassee, FL 32303 Samantha M. Cibula, Esq.

scibula@psc.state.fl.us Counsel for Native Community Action Council Alexander, Berkey, Williams & Weathers LLP 2030 Addison Street, Suite 410 Berkeley, CA 94704 Curtis G. Berkey, Esq.

cberkey@abwwlaw.com Rovianne A. Leigh, Esq.

rleigh@berkeywilliams.com Scott W. Williams, Esq.

swilliams@abwwlaw.com Native Community Action Council P.O. Box 140 Baker, NV 89311 Ian Zabarte, Member of Board of Directors mrizabarte@gmail.com Counsel for Prairie Island Indian Community Public Law Resource Center PLLC 505 N. Capitol Avenue Lansing, MI 48933 Don L. Keskey, Esq.

donkeskey@publiclawresourcecenter.com Prairie Island Indian Community Legal Department 5636 Sturgeon Lake Road Welch, MN 55089 Philip R. Mahowald, Esq.

pmahowald@piic.org Nuclear Energy Institute Office of the General Counsel 1776 I Street, NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20006-3708 Jerry Bonanno, Esq.

jxb@nei.org Anne W. Cottingham, Esq.

awc@nei.org Ellen C. Ginsberg, Esq.

ecg@nei.org Counsel for Nuclear Energy Institute Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP 1200 Seventeenth Street NW Washington, DC 20036 Jay E. Silberg, Esq.

jay.silberg@pillsburylaw.com Timothy J.V. Walsh, Esq.

timothy.walsh@pillsburylaw.com Counsel for Nuclear Energy Institute Winston & Strawn LLP 1700 K Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20006-3817 William A. Horin, Esq.

whorin@winston.com David A. Repka, Esq.

drepka@winston.com Carlos L. Sisco, Senior Paralegal csisco@winston.com Counsel for National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) 1101 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20005 James Ramsay, Esq.

jramsay@naruc.org Robin Lunt, Esq.

rlunt@naruc.org

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (High Level Waste Repository) Docket No. 63-001-HLW LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN KRISTINE SVINICKI TO ROBERT HALSTEAD 7

Counsel for Joint Timbisha Shoshone Tribal Group Fredericks, Peebles, & Morgan LLP 1001 Second St.

Sacramento, CA 95814 Felicia M. Brooks, Data Administrator fbrooks@ndnlaw.com Ross D. Colburn, Law Clerk rcolburn@ndnlaw.com Sally Eredia, Legal Secretary seredia@ndnlaw.com Darcie L. Houck, Esq.

dhouck@ndnlaw.com Brian Niegemann, Office Manager bniegemann@ndnlaw.com John M. Peebles, Esq.

jpeebles@ndnlaw.com Robert Rhoan, Esq.

rrhoan@ndnlaw.com Fredericks, Peebles, & Morgan LLP 3610 North 163rd Plaza Omaha, NE 68116 Shane Thin Elk, Esq.

sthinelk@ndnlaw.com For Joint Timbisha Shoshone Tribal Group Indian Village Road, P.O. Box 206 Death Valley, CA 92328-0206 Joe Kennedy, Executive Director joekennedy08@live.com Tameka Vazquez, Bookkeeper purpose_driven12@yahoo.com

[Original Signed by Herald M. Speiser ]

Office of the Secretary of the Commission Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 15th day of March, 2018