No. I-11-002

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330

 Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

February 16, 2011

E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov

LICENSING BOARD TO HOLD EVIDENTIARY HEARING ON MARCH 9th

IN PLYMOUTH, MASS., ON PILGRIM LICENSE RENEWAL CONTENTION

 A three-judge panel of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) will conduct an 

evidentiary hearing on Thursday, March 9, in Plymouth, Mass., regarding a contention raised in 

the Pilgrim nuclear power plant license renewal proceeding. The ASLB is an independent 

judicial arm of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

 The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. at the John Carver Inn, 25 Summer St. in Plymouth, 

Mass. The session is open for public observation.

 The contention that will be the subject of the hearing was submitted by the non-profit 

citizens’ organization Pilgrim Watch and involves Severe Accident Mitigation Alternatives, or 

SAMAs. When developing a license renewal application, nuclear power plant owners are 

required under NRC regulations to consider safety enhancements, such as new equipment or 

building modifications, to reduce the risks of severe accidents. A cost-benefit analysis of 

potential changes is part of the consideration process. Pilgrim Watch has asserted there were 

flaws with the methodologies used by the plant’s owner, Entergy, to determine post-accident 

environmental effects, thereby influencing decision-making on possible changes.

Specifically, the focus of the hearing on March 9 will be the modeling used by Entergy to 

calculate the airborne release of radioactivity following a severe accident.

The SAMAs contention was one of five initially submitted by Pilgrim Watch regarding 

the relicensing application, of which two were admitted to the proceeding. A hearing on the first 

contention, involving the company’s aging-management plan for buried tanks and piping 

containing radioactive liquids, was held in 2008 and resulted in a ruling in favor of Entergy. The 

SAMAs contention was dismissed by a majority of the Board without a hearing. That decision 

was appealed by Pilgrim Watch. On March 26, 2010, the Commission remanded a part of the 

contention to the ASLB for a hearing. That hearing will take place on March 9.

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region I 

475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406

E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov
Entergy submitted its application for a 20-year extension of the Pilgrim operating license 

on Jan. 25, 2006. The plant’s initial 40-year operating license is due to expire on June 8, 2012 

but will remain in effect until the Commission has issued a final ruling on the renewal 

application. Documents related to the license renewal application are available on the NRC’s 

web site at: www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/pilgrim.html. 

Documents for the Pilgrim proceeding are available in the NRC’s online document 

library at: www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory.html.

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