ASLB TO HOLD PREHEARING CONFERENCE OCT. 19 

IN ROCKVILLE, MD., ON VOGTLE NEW REACTOR APPLICATION

 A Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) will hold a 

prehearing conference Tuesday, Oct. 19 in Rockville, Md., regarding a revived challenge to 

Southern Nuclear Operating Company’s Combined License (COL) application for two new reactors 

at the Vogtle site in Georgia. 

 The Board will conduct an oral argument with the petitioners challenging the application 

(the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, the Center for a Sustainable Coast, and Georgia 

Women's Action for New Directions), Southern Nuclear, and the NRC staff. An ASLB decision had 

previously ended the contested portion of the proceeding on the Vogtle COL application, but the 

petitioners are attempting to raise a new objection regarding the coating and inspection program 

associated with the containment for the reactor design envisioned for the site. The issues to be 

argued will include whether the petitioners have standing to participate, whether the record of the 

proceeding’s contested portion should be reopened, and whether the new objection can 

appropriately be introduced at this point in the NRC’s licensing process and meets the standards for 

admitting objections into an adjudicatory hearing. 

 The prehearing conference will begin at 9 a.m. Oct. 19 in the NRC’s ASLB hearing room, 

T-3B45, at the agency’s headquarters at 11545 Rockville Pike in Rockville. The conference may 

also be viewed via teleconference from the NRC’s Region II office, 245 Peachtree Center Ave., 

Suite 1200, in Atlanta. Members of the public are welcome to observe the conference at either 

location, but are reminded to allow sufficient time for security screening and to bring a governmentissued photo ID (e.g., driver’s license). 

 Members of the public may also file written limited appearance statements regarding the 

contested portion of the Vogtle COL licensing proceeding. These statements are not testimony, but 

provide an opportunity to make the Board and/or the participants aware of the public’s concerns 

about the matters at issue in the contested proceeding. Statements should be mailed to Rulemakings 

and Adjudications Staff, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001; 

faxed to 301-415-1101 (call 301-415-1966 to verify receipt); or e-mailed to 

hearingdocket@nrc.gov. In addition, a copy of the limited appearance statement should be mailed to 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 10-179 October 7, 2010
Administrative Judge G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, Mail Stop 

T-3F23, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001; faxed to 301-415-

5599 (call 301-415-7550 to verify receipt); or e-mailed to paul.bollwerk@nrc.gov. 

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the Office of Public Affairs beforehand. 

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