Opinion ID: 216911
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Spatial Scope Contention

Text: Citizens also argue that the NRC improperly affirmed the Board's ruling that the correct time to raise its Spatial Scope Contention was after Exelon docketed its December 2005 commitment. In this contention, Citizens sought to challenge the various locations at which the UT measurements would be taken. The Board determined that Exelon's 2006 commitment did not provide any new information that would serve as a basis for this contention. Rather, Exelon's December 2005 commitment stated that one-time measurements will be taken from inside the drywell at locations tested in the 1990s.  64 N.R.C. at 250 (emphasis added). Thus, Citizens had prior knowledge of the location of the one-time UT measurements, even before Exelon committed in 2006 to perform the measurements throughout the period of extended operation. The NRC agreed. It noted that [t]he locations on the drywell shell where the ultrasonic testing measurements are made are fixed. 69 N.R.C. at 273. The NRC properly affirmed the Board's rejection of the Spatial Scope Contention because this information was previously available, rendering the contention deficient under 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(f)(2). Citizens had notice of the spatial scope of the measurements when Exelon docketed its commitment to take UT measurements in December 2005. The NRC properly affirmed the Board's rejection of the Spatial Scope Contention because this information was previously available and 10 C.F.R. § 2.309(f)(2) was not met. The NRC's conclusion derives from adequate record support and is not an abuse of discretion. See Limerick Ecology, 869 F.2d at 744.