No: 13-087 October 18, 2013

CONTACT: Scott Burnell, 301-415-8200 

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Going Forward With

Hearing Oct. 30 on Proposed Fermi New Reactor

An Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) will hold a hearing Oct. 30 in Monroe, Mich., 

concerning a challenge by several environmental groups to the Combined License application for a new 

nuclear reactor at the Fermi site in Monroe County, Mich. The ASLB is the independent body within 

the NRC that conducts adjudicatory hearings and renders decisions on legal challenges to licensing 

actions.

The hearing, which begins at 9:30 a.m. EDT, will be held in the Monroe County Courthouse’s 

Board Meeting Room, 125 E. Second St. in Monroe. If necessary, the board will continue the hearing 

through Friday, Nov. 1. Members of the public and media are welcome to observe the evidentiary 

hearing, but participation in the hearing will be limited to the parties and their lawyers and witnesses. 

Those planning to attend the evidentiary hearing should arrive at least 15 minutes early to allow time 

for security screening, including searches of hand-carried items such as briefcases or backpacks. No 

signs will be permitted in the courtroom.

The board will also take comments from interested members of the public, known as limited 

appearance statements, on Tuesday, Oct. 29, from 1-3 p.m. and from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Meyer Theater 

at the Monroe County Community College’s La-Z-Boy Center, 1555 S. Raisinville Road in Monroe. 

These statements are not testimony or evidence, but they nonetheless may aid the board and/or the 

parties in considering the issues in the hearing. Speakers will be allotted approximately five minutes 

each for their statements, and the board reserves the right to end the comment sessions early if all those 

present have had the opportunity to speak. 

Those who cannot attend the sessions in Monroe can submit written statements via mail to 

Administrative Judge Ronald M. Spritzer, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, Mail Stop T3F23, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001; via fax to 301-415-5599, 

or via email to onika.williams@nrc.gov and ronald.spritzer@nrc.gov. Copies of written submissions 

should also be sent via mail to: Office of the Secretary,Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission,Washington, D.C. 20444-0001; via fax to 301-415-1101 or via e-mail 

to hearingdocket@nrc.gov. 

This hearing involves Detroit Edison’s application to build an Economic Simplified Boiling 

Water Reactor at the Fermi site. Several environmental groups, including Beyond Nuclear, Citizens for 

Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, Citizens Environmental, Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, 
Page | 2

Don’t Waste Michigan and the Sierra Club, filed a legal challenge opposing the application. The groups 

argue that the environmental review of the proposed reactor fails to adequately analyze and discuss 

impacts on the eastern fox snake at the site. The groups also argue that quality assurance concerns 

regarding safety analysis work by Detroit Edison and its contractor prevent the NRC from issuing a 

license for the proposed reactor. The hearing will examine these two arguments. 

Documents related to the Fermi 3 COL application are available on the NRC website. 

Documents regarding this Board’s proceeding are available on the NRC’s Electronic Hearing Docket

by clicking on the folder entitled “Fermi_52-033-COL” on the left side of the page. More information 

about the role of the ASLB in the licensing process is available on the NRC website.