Quality assurance contention against Fermi 3 new reactor admitted for hearing by NRC licensing board

ESBWR graphic from NRC websiteAn environmental coalition, co-led by Beyond Nuclear, has won a hearing from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (NRC ASLB). Despite NRC staff and company objections to the contrary, the ASLB's June 15, 2010 ruling recognized the safety significance of quality assurance (QA) violations, and agreed that the environmental coalition's evidence of Detroit Edison QA shortcomings deserved a full adjudicatory hearing on the merits. The contention relied heavily on an expert affidavit filed on Dec. 8, 2010 by nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates in Vermont on behalf of the environmental coalition. Gundersen expanded his relevant testimony with a June 8, 2010 filing. The ASLB admitted the contention even before taking Gundersen's latest allegations and evidence into consideration. A This marks the fifth contention thus far to be granted a hearing in the Fermi 3 licensing proceeding.