Opinion ID: 476269
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Immediate Effectiveness Regulation

Text: 30 In order to minimize delays in putting a completed nuclear power plant into operation, operating license proceedings are conducted simultaneously with its construction. Frequently, due to the time-consuming nature of the licensing review process, plant construction is completed by the time the Licensing Board renders its initial decision authorizing a license, but before the Commission's internal review of the Licensing Board's approval has been completed. 31 In an effort to prevent costly delays following the Licensing Board's initial approval, the Commission has instituted procedures under which a non-merits determination is made by the Commission as to whether the operating license shall be effective immediately upon issuance.... 10 C.F.R. Sec. 2.764(a). This determination, which is without prejudice to a decision on the merits on issues raised in the licensing proceedings, is termed an immediate effectiveness review. This review allows the Licensing Board's authorization of full-power operation to become effective while the resolution of contested issues continues through the internal appeals process. Id. 32 Prior to the 1979 Three-Mile Island accident, the NRC's regulations allowed full-power operation of a nuclear reactor upon the issuance of the Licensing Board's initial decision approving such operation. No additional action was required by the Commission. See 36 Fed.Reg. 828 (1971); 10 C.F.R. Sec. 2.764 (1979). This decision was immediately effective notwithstanding the filing of an appeal with the Appeal Board unless the Licensing Board provided otherwise or unless a stay was issued by the Appeal Board or the Commission pursuant to the Commission's rules of procedure. Id. 33 In response to increased concerns over nuclear plant safety following the Three-Mile Island incident, the Commission revised its regulations as they pertained to the effective date of Licensing Board decisions. Under current regulations, those decisions will not become effective until they are reviewed and explicitly approved by the Commission. 10 C.F.R. Secs. 2.764(a), (f)(2)(i) (1985). The regulations further provide that unless the Commission otherwise directs, the Commission's decision on immediate effectiveness is without prejudice to any pending appeal on the merits, or to any subsequent formal adjudication. 10 C.F.R. Sec. 2.764(g) (1985). In short, section 2.764 specifically contemplates Commission approval of a full-power operating license prior to the resolution of appeals or motions associated with ongoing challenges. 34 In its March 15 decision, the Commission carefully considered whether the issues raised in petitioners' two motions warranted a stay of the Licensing Board's decision authorizing Waterford-3 to operate at full power. As is the case with all immediate effectiveness reviews, the Commission's March 15 decision did not represent an adjudication on the merits. In that decision, the Commission went no further than to determine, in the light of all information in the administrative record (including that provided by petitioners), that a stay of the effectiveness of the Licensing Board's decision was not required by the public interest. In the Commission's words, 35 [t]he current record has provided a reasonable basis to conclude that the plant can be operated safely at full power, pending resolution of the issues currently before the Appeal Board and we so find. 36 CLI-85-3, 21 N.R.C. at 475 (Mar. 15, 1985). We find that conclusion to be well within the Commission's discretion. 37 It is petitioners' implicit position that the regulatory scheme enshrined in section 2.764 is inherently flawed because it permits licensing decisions to become effective prior to a review on the merits. That position is without support. Nothing in the AEA makes resolution of all appeals by an Appeal Board mandatory prior to Commission action on a Licensing Board's initial decision. To the contrary, section 191(a) of the AEA, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2241(a), vests wide discretion in the Commission to establish one or more atomic safety and licensing boards ... to conduct such hearings as the Commission may direct and make such intermediate and final decisions as the Commission may authorize.... Id. 38 The Commission is thus well within its discretion in providing in 10 C.F.R. Sec. 2.764 for immediate effectiveness of Licensing Board initial decisions upon Commission review notwithstanding the pendency of appeals to the Appeal Board, and especially notwithstanding motions to reopen on which the Appeal Board has not yet ruled. We conclude that the section is lawful and that the Commission complied with its requirements. 39