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More
than five years after the NRC embarked on its review, another step in
the agency’s thorough and detailed review of a license renewal
application for the
Indian Point nuclear power plant will take place beginning next Monday, Oct. 15.
It’s
on that date that an evidentiary hearing regarding the request for a
20-year license extension for the Buchanan (Westchester County), N.Y.,
plant will get under way at the DoubleTree Hotel in Tarrytown, N.Y. The
focus will be on 10 different contentions submitted by New York State
and two public interest organizations, and admitted into the proceeding
for further review.
A
three-judge panel that is part of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
(ASLB) will conduct the hearing. The judges will pose questions to
expert witnesses for Entergy, the company that owns and operates Indian
Point; the NRC; and the interveners -- the state, Riverkeeper Inc. and
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater Inc.
It’s
important to note that the oral testimony will represent only part of
what will inform the judges’ eventual rulings on the contentions.
Indeed, the judges will also consider a large volume of written
submittals from all of the parties that elaborate on the issues.
This
will not be the first time a license renewal application has been the
subject of such a hearing. Other applications to undergo an evidentiary
hearing have included Oyster Creek, Vermont Yankee and Pilgrim nuclear
power plants.
But
the sheer number of contentions related to Indian Point to be reviewed
means that numerous days of testimony will be required. The ASLB panel
has scheduled Oct. 15-18, Oct. 22-24 and Dec. 10-14 for that purpose.
Also,
additional hearing days are expected to be conducted next year. That’s
because the parties will have a chance to submit contentions not yet
ripe for adjudication because of, for example, anticipated revisions to
the Environmental Impact Statement by the NRC Staff.
Space
for the hearing set to begin Oct. 15 will be limited. Those interested
in attending are urged to be on hand early. The proceeding will begin at
1 p.m. the first day, with the doors opening at 12:30 p.m. On
subsequent days, the room will open at 8:30 a.m.
An NRC
press release contains further details on the hearing. More information about the application in general can be found on the agency’s
web site.
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