The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday said that the independent adjudicatory body, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB), would hold an evidentiary hearing in January in Homestead, Fla., on behalf of Citizens Allied for Safe Energy (CASE) to consider a challenge to license amendments that permit an increase in the ultimate heat sink water temperature limit for the cooling canal system at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant.
The plant, near Homestead, consists of five power generation units, including two 500 MW natural gas and oil-fired units (Units 1 and 2) and two 693 MW Westinghouse three-loop pressurized water reactors (Units 3 and 4). It added a fifth unit, a 1,150 MW combine cycle gas-powered unit in 2007.
CASE filed four proposed “contentions” regarding the license amendments, which were granted to the plant's operator, Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) in 2014, the NRC said.
The ASLB heard oral arguments last January on the admissibility of the contentions, and on March 23 granted a hearing on one contention. That contention claims the NRC staff’s environmental assessment supporting the license amendment did not adequately address the potential impacts of the higher temperature limit on migration of highly saline water out of the cooling canals or saltwater intrusion into nearby aquifers.
The public hearing, which will take place Jan. 11-12, will focus on the merits of this contention. It is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 11 at Hampton Inn and Suites, 2855 NR 9th St., in Homestead. It will continue until 5 p.m., Jan. 12, unless the board finishes earlier.
Although the meeting is considered open to the public, no members of the public, other than CASE, will be allowed to address the board in person over the issue. The public, however, can submit “limited appearance statements,” regarding the license amendments and the contention under consideration, the NRC said.
These statements, which may be considered by the judges, must be submitted no later than Jan. 15 to both the NRC Secretary and the chairman of the ASLB by mail at Office of the Secretary, Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 and Administrative Judge Michael M. Gibson, Chairman, c/o Nicole Pepperl & Jennifer Scro, Board Law Clerks, Mail Stop T-3F23, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555-0001. They may also be submitted by fax to (301) 415-1101 and (301) 415-5599, or by email to hearingdocket@nrc.gov, nicole.pepperl@nrc.gov and jennifer.scro@nrc.gov.
The ASLB is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s independent body charged with conducting adjudicatory hearings and deciding legal challenges to the agency’s licensing and enforcement actions.
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