Yucca Mountain High-Level Nuclear Waste Hearings In Las Vegas March 31 – April 2 To Be Webstreamed On The Internet
– By Christopher Smith –
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) oral arguments in the Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste proceeding will be Webstreamed over the Internet March 31 – April 2.
Three separate boards will conduct oral arguments in the Yucca Mountain proceeding in Las Vegas on the standing of petitioners and the admissibility of their proposed contentions.
Anyone wishing to view the arguments over the Internet may do so at the following links:
• March 31: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=57076
• April 1: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=57079
• April 2: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=57081
In addition, the oral arguments will be televised to the NRC’s ASLB hearing room, T-3B45, at the agency’s headquarters at 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. Members of the public are welcome to attend.
These oral arguments are part of the adjudicatory proceeding on the Department of Energy’s application for authorization to construct an underground geologic repository for the nation’s high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. DOE submitted the application to the NRC on June 3, 2008.
Each board consists of three judges, two with legal expertise and one with technical expertise. The three boards will consider and rule upon the admissibility of approximately 320 proposed contentions filed by 14 petitioners. These boards will consider only the standing of the petitioners and the admissibility of the contentions. The merits of any admitted contentions will be considered at a later time.
The sessions will be held at the NRC’s Las Vegas Hearing Facility, Pacific Enterprise Plaza, Building 1, 3250 Pepper Lane, Las Vegas, beginning at 9 a.m. each day. Each board will hear arguments for one day, and will try to complete the day’s proceedings by 5 p.m.