Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Rules On Limerick Plant

The three-judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board assigned to consider a request for a hearing on the Limerick nuclear power plant license renewal application issued a decision on the admissibility of the request, said Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Affairs Officer Neil Sheehan via email today.

The judges ruled that one of the contentions submitted by the National Resources Defense Council – as limited and reworded by the ASLB – is admissible. The judges also found NRDC has standing to bring such a challenge, Sheehan said.  

The contention admitted questions whether:

• Exelon omitted from its environmental report for the Limerick application a required analysis of new and significant information regarding potential new severe accident mitigation alternatives previously considered for other BWR Mark II Containment reactors.

• Exelon’s reliance on data from Three Mile Island in its analysis of the significance of new information regarding economic cost risk constitutes an inadequate analysis of new and significant information.

"The ruling means that the ASLB panel will now continue to consider these issues," Sheehan said. "At some point, the judges will have to decide whether the issues raised are worthy of an evidentiary hearing at which the parties would bring forth expert witnesses who would be questioned by the panel."