NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 Office of Public Affairs, Region I

 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406

 www.nrc.gov

No. I-03-068 November 10, 2003

CONTACT: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 Email: opa1@nrc.gov

Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

NRC OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO INTERVENE IN HEARING

ON BUCKS COUNTY IRRADIATOR

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel is

offering an opportunity for affected persons to petition to intervene in a hearing on an irradiator

in Bucks County, Pa. 

CFC Logistics filed its application for an NRC license to operate a commercial irradiator

at its facility in the Quakertown, Pa., area on February 25. A number of citizen petitioners filed

their request for a hearing on the validity of that application on June 23. Under NRC rules, the

request for a hearing did not itself prohibit granting of the license, which the NRC Staff issued

on August 27. 

Oral argument was held on the request for a hearing and a stay request on September 10

in Allentown, Pa. The judge denied the request for a stay of the NRC license on September 23,

and cobalt-60 sources have since been loaded into the irradiator. On October 29, the NRC judge

found that at least three of the petitioners had standing and that some of the issues they raised

were germane to the proceeding. On that basis, a hearing was granted.

The parties currently designated as participating in this proceeding are three Quakertown

residents and CFC Logistics. Any other persons whose interests may be affected by this

proceeding may file a petition to intervene. Any interested governmental entity may file a

request to participate. 

The deadline for anyone requesting to intervene is Friday, December 5, which is 30 days

after publication of a Federal Register Notice on this subject. By that time, requests must be

filed by anyone whose interest might be affected by the grant of the license and who wishes to

participate as a party to the proceeding. 

Requests must be filed with the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Document Control Desk. They may also
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be delivered to the NRC Public Document Room at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. A

copy of the request should also be sent by mail to the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel,

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001; and to the Office of the

General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Because

of continuing disruptions in the delivery of mail to the United States Government offices, it is

requested that requests for hearing be transmitted to the Secretary of the Commission either by

fax to 301-415-1101, or by e-mail to hearingdocket@nrc.gov, and to the Office of General

Counsel either by fax to 301-415-3725, or by e-mail to OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. A copy

should also be sent to Anthony J. Thompson, Esq., Counsel for CFC Logistics, Inc., Law Offices

of Anthony J. Thompson, P.C., 1225 19th Street, NW, 2nd Floor, Washington, D.C. 20036. 

Additional information about the opportunity to intervene in the hearing may be found in the

Federal Register notice at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a031105c.html. 

A copy of the license application is available through the NRC’s Agency-wide

Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at 

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Help in using ADAMS is available by contacting the

NRC Public Document Room staff at 800-397-4209, or by sending an e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. 

The application is also available for public inspection at the NRC’s Public Document Room in

Rockville, Md.

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