Massachusetts & Southern Vermont CAN
Winning Isn’t Everything: NRC Warned to Watch Its Step
CAN dragged NRC to court to stop it from undermining people’s hearing rights in reactor communities. At stake was the ability for citizens to cross examine witnesses and get discovery during public hearings. The Appellate Court ruled that NRC’s new rule limiting public participation was legal but barely. “... the Commission’s new rules may approach the outer bounds of what is permissible under the law …,” said the three judge panel. Although we lost, we still won a victory for reactor communities.

In an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board hearing on the uprate for the Vermont Yankee reactor, the panel acknowledged that cross examination of witnesses remains available to petitioners because the Appellate court warned NRC that “Should the agency’s administration of the new rules ….flout the principle of cross examination, nothing in this opinion will inoculate the rules against future challenges.” This would not have happened had we not gone to court!

The judges agreed with CAN that the “Commission’s explanation for the change in discovery practice was thin …” In a separate opinion filed by Judge Lipez, he states: “It is striking that so many smart people at the NRC could be so wrong for so long about the requirements.” He acknowledged the “legitimate frustrations of the petitioners, who felt that they were dealing with a moving target as the NRC tried to justify its new regulations,” and warned NRC to examine its actions, “There is a victory here for the NRC, but it should be a cause for self examination rather than jubilation.” We were unable to stop the limiting of discovery, however, limiting the ability of citizens to hold corporations accountable and giving corporations the upper hand in the hearing process. Given that NRC is committed to withholding more and more information from the public on the basis of “national security,” the new rules make it harder for citizens to hold NRC and nuclear corporations accountable. Should NRC back-peddle on its judicial commitment, CAN will take NRC back to court.

We want to thank everyone for their generosity and support which made our lawsuit possible. CAN was joined by the Nuclear Information Resource Service, Public Citizen, and the National Whistleblowers Center.

Northern Vermont
In Vermont, legislators are struggling to figure out how to respond to Entergy’s request to put dry cask storage onsite at Vermont Yankee. Entergy’s hope is to get just enough casks to allow for an uprate and continued operation through 2012. Many groups are working on the issue, with messages ranging from “get what you can by taxing the casks” to “shut the plant down now.” CAN has been focused and clear with a message of returning the fuel pool to low density racking and requiring Hardened On - Site Storage (HOSS) if dry cask storage is allowed. We have been meeting with legislators, providing background information, questions, and support for legislators on the House Natural Resources Committee who are willing to raise tough questions about the “hurry up and give us what we want” demands of Entergy. CAN has also been turning out folks to hearings, including two public hearings on the issue of dry cask storage, and doing research about how far our legislators can go to protect us without running into pre-emption problems.