NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board to Hold Oral Argument on Point Beach Subsequent License Renewal

NRC press release:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release

No: 21-020 June 1, 2021

CONTACT: Scott Burnell, 301-415-8200

NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board to Hold Oral Argument on Point Beach Subsequent License Renewal

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will conduct an oral argument via WebEx on June 22 regarding a petition to hold an adjudicatory hearing concerning NextEra Energy’s application to renew the operating licenses of the Point Beach Nuclear Plant Units 1 and 2, near Manitowoc, Wisconsin, for an additional 20 years.

The oral argument will begin at 10 a.m., Eastern time, and will address four proposed contentions from petitioner Physicians for Social Responsibility Wisconsin, as well as a motion to amend the group’s proposed Contention 2. The three administrative judges on the Board will hear argument from representatives for the petitioner, NextEra, and the NRC staff.

The public will have listen-only access to the oral argument; those interested in calling in should contact the Board’s law clerk, Ian Curry, at Ian.Curry@nrc.gov, for the teleconference information. The Board is composed of three administrative judges from the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel. Boards conduct adjudicatory hearings on major licensing actions by the NRC, and they are independent of the NRC staff. A Board’s rulings may be appealed to the Commission, the five-member body that sets NRC policy.

Update on June 7, 2021 by admin

*The call-in number is 800-857-9887 and the listen-only passcode is 5721898.

PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY WISCONSIN’S COMBINED REPLY IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO AMEND CONTENTION 2 (INADEQUATELY TESTED REACTOR COOLANT PRESSURE BOUNDARY)

As filed by Terry Lodge of Toledo, OH -- legal counsel for PSR WI -- opposing Point Beach Unit 1 and 2 Nuclear Power Plant's application for an 80-year operational license.

PSR WI defends its intervention contentions, as it opposes an 80-year operating license at the Point Beach nuclear power plant

Point Beach Units 1 and 2, located on WI's Lake Michigan shoreline. NRC file photo.As filed by Toledo, OH-based attorney Terry Lodge, who serves as legal counsel for Physicians for Social Responsibility Wisconsin:

PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY WISCONSIN’S REPLY IN SUPPORT OF PETITION FOR LEAVE TO INTERVENE IN POINT BEACH NUCLEAR PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 SUBSEQUENT LICENSE RENEWAL PROCEEDING, AND REQUESTING AN ADJUDICATORY HEARING

and

PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY WISCONSIN’S MOTION TO AMEND CONTENTION 2 (INADEQUATELY TESTED REACTOR COOLANT PRESSURE BOUNDARY)

The filings were submitted on April 26, 2021 -- the 35th annual commemoration of the beginning of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe. They contain the expert witness testimony of Arnie Gundersen, chief engineer, Fairewinds Energy Associates.

See the initial PSR WI petition to intervene, dated March 23, 2021, linked here.

PSR WI petitions to intervene and requests hearing in opposition to NextEra Energy Point Beach's 80-year operating license application

Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant, NRC file photo.Petition for Leave to Intervene and Request for an Adjudicatory Hearing, filed by attorney Terry Lodge of Toledo, Ohio, on behalf of Physicians for Social Responsibility Wisconsin (PSR WI).

The NextEra Energy Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant Atomic Reactor Units 1 and 2 are located in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, on the Lake Michigan shoreline (see photo, left).

Accompanying the petition and request were expert witness declarations:

Declaration of Arnold Gundersen, M.E., Nuclear Engineering, Chief Engineer, Fairewinds Associates, Inc.;

Declaration of Alvin Compaan, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Physics at University of Toledo, and President of Lucintech, Inc.;

Declaration of Mark Cooper, Ph.D., Senior Fellow for Economic Analysis at the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School, and Director of Research at the Consumer Federation of America.

See PSR WI's press release, here.

Update on April 27, 2021 by admin

See PSR WI's defense of its intervention contentions, filed on April 26, 2021, here.

PT. BEACH COMMENTS: 30 MORE years of risk to Lake Michigan?!

Point Beach Unit 1 & 2 atomic reactors, Two Rivers, WI on Lake Michigan shoreThanks to all who submitted comments. 1,288 were submitted via Regulations.gov by last night's (10:59pm Central) deadline. If the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's call-in/webinar is any indication, the vast majority were opposed to the twin reactors' "subsequent" 20-year extension: on February 17, 15 of 16 verbal comments were opposed to the license extension (the only one in favor was by a Point Beach V.P.). We submitted 14 sets of comments, including regarding embrittlement at Unit 2, the worst in the U.S. The next challenge is March 23's deadline for interventions at NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. We look forward to working with Physicians for Social Responsibility-Wisconsin and others to meet it.

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