The Hearing Process

Hearings are conducted in accordance with the Rules of Practice established in 10 CFR Part 2 of NRC's regulations.

To learn more about the NRC's rules of practice that govern the conduct of NRC hearings, the NRC has provided resources for understanding 10 CFR Part 2. For information about decisions resulting from these hearings, see the Hearing Decisions page.

The NRC's hearing process makes it possible for the public to get a full and fair hearing on civilian nuclear matters. Administrative judges from the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (ASLBP) generally conduct these hearings. On rare occasions the Commission itself may preside at a hearing. The ASLBP's judges are employees of the NRC; however, under NRC rules and under the Administrative Procedure Act, they are independent from the NRC staff. The judges have no stake in the outcome of a proceeding, and reach objective decisions based on the record.

The Commission entertains appeals and petitions for review of the decisions of the ASLBP. A special Commission office (Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication) assists the Commission in these reviews by analyzing the cases, determining the legal options for a final decision, and drafting decisions for the Commission in accordance with the Commission's guidance. The Secretary of the Commission maintains the files for NRC's licensing and enforcement adjudications, known as the Adjudicatory Docket.

To participate in NRC hearings, members of the public must explain the nature of their interest in the proposed NRC licensing or enforcement action and set forth the reasons and bases for their concerns. Generally, hearings are sought by those who reside or work near an affected nuclear facility and who believe that a proposed action raises environmental or safety questions. Participants in NRC hearings have included individuals, citizen groups, private businesses, and governmental bodies. For more on how to become involved in the hearing process regulations see NRC page on Public Involvement in Hearings page.

NRC's regulations in 10 CFR Part 2 specify different types of hearing processes for different types of agency actions. For some cases, particularly in the enforcement and certain reactor licensing areas, the NRC employs a formal, trial-type process similar to the procedures used in non-jury Federal court lawsuits, including pre-trial discovery between the parties and questioning of witnesses at an evidentiary hearing. In most cases, however, the NRC follows a more informal hearing process. Decisions of licensing boards can be appealed to the Commission, and Commission decisions can be appealed to the U.S. Courts of Appeals.

The Four Counties of Esmeralda, Churchill, Lander and Mineral have joined forces submitt their contentions to participate in the High Level Waste Hearings being conducted by the NRC. The following are the challenges that have been admitted into the scheduled hearings as of May 11 by order of the NRC Licensing Board.

Four Counties Admitted Contention submittals

For more informaiton please see our tracking page here.

Schedule for the Proceeding on Consideration of Construction Authorization for a High-Level Waste Geologic Repositor August 2010 - March 2012.

How the NRC regulates:

The NRC Review Process

• A license application has been submitted to the NRC by the Department of Energy on June 3, 2008. Elements of the License Application
• After the NRC completed its acceptance review of the material contained in the License Application, general information and Safety Analysis Review and announced in the Federal Register (Federal Register Notice of Intent) an opportunity for interested parties to participate in hearings. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff determined, pursuant to Section 114(f)(4) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended (NWPA), that it is practicable to adopt, with further supplementation, DOE’s environmental impact statements prepared in connection with the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada.
• The NRC staff concluded that the Yucca Mountain Final EIS and Repository SEIS did not address adequately all of the repository related impacts on groundwater, or from surface discharges of groundwater, and therefore requested that DOE prepare a supplement to these environmental impact statements. Based on a review of the NRC staff evaluation, the Department has decided to prepare the requested supplement. DOE Issues Notice of Intent to Supplement Repository EIS
• The hearings will be presided over by an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. Multiple boards may be appointed. Boards typically have three members — an administrative law judge who is a lawyer to run the proceeding and two technical experts. Boards may have more than three members. Board members are drawn from a panel of pre-approved, qualified members.
• Entities and individuals interested in supporting or opposing the repository will be required to file petitions to be admitted as parties to the proceeding, as well as file legally- or technically-relevant contentions.
• The board may permit limited appearances by those wishing to make brief statements but not become parties.
• At the same time the board is performing its legal functions, the NRC staff will conduct a technical review of the general information and SAR. As a result of that review, the NRC staff will generate questions on the license application, referred to as requests for additional information, which DOE will answer in the form of revisions to the general information and SAR.
• The Board will examine the proposed contentions and rule on each. After the NRC staff completes its technical review and the board completes processing proposed contentions, the two efforts will converge in the hearing process. DOE, NRC, and (in some instances) contractor staff will have to take the stand to address contentions admitted by the board. After all contentions and responses have been heard by the board, the board will issue its initial decision regarding construction. If the decision is not overturned by the commissioners or the appellate court, construction can begin.

Licensing Support Network

The NRC shut down the Licensing Support Network in August stating lack of funding.

The Licensing Support Network (LSN) is a web-based information system intended to facilitate the discovery process. It supports the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) licensing process for a repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. All potential parties to the NRC's licensing proceeding, including the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and NRC, place relevant documentary material in the LSN. The LSN contains electronically retrievable documentary material relevant to the DOE’s license application. The LSN provides the public and potential parties to the NRC's licensing proceeding access to information relevant to the licensing of a repository at Yucca Mountain prior to submittal of the license application. The NRC's regulations for the LSN are found in Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 2, Subpart J.

If you do not have access to the Internet, you can find public Internet access at the following locations:

• Las Vegas Yucca Mountain Information Center
• Most community libraries
• Most colleges and universities
• ROP offices in Goldfield, NV has an official reading room and access to the on-line LSN document collection.
• Facts brochure about the Licensing process.