Palisades restart: Wed., Feb. 12 ASLBP virtual oral argument pre-hearings, 11am ET, with listen-only call-in line for public/media

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[Please note that the time and format for this pre-hearing have been changed. Although the pre-hearing will be held on the same date as previously announced, Wednesday, February 12th, the start time has been changed to 11am Eastern Time (It had previously been 8:30am ET). In addition, the pre-hearing will no longer be held in-person. Instead, they will be held virtually. A listen-only call-in line will still be made available, which members of the public and news media can use to listen in on the pre-hearing. The call-in line numbers have not been changed — they remain the same as previously announced. These changes were ordered by the NRC ASLBP in an ORDER issued at 5:16pm ET on Thursday, February 6, 2025.]

A three-judge (administrative law judges, or hearing examiners) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (ASLBP) has ordered oral argument pre-hearings to be held on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, beginning at 11am Eastern Time, regarding Holtec’s scheme to restart the closed Palisades reactor on Lake Michigan in southwest Michigan. See the updated ORDER, dated Feb. 6, here.

The ASLBP’s administrative judges are: Emily I. Krause, Chair; Dr. Gary S. Arnold; and Dr. Arielle J. Miller. The oral argument pre-hearings will take place virtually.

In the updated ORDER issued on Feb. 6th, the ASLBP published a listen-only, call-in number for remote attendees (members of intervening organizations and the public, as well as news media reporters):

Those who wish to listen to the oral argument should dial (301) 576-2978 and enter passcode 101 394 753#. After successful entry of the passcode, the following message will be heard: “You are not allowed to unmute. To raise your hand press *5.” Please note that this telephone line is not being monitored and pressing “*5” will not allow participation in the conference.

The environmental coalition opposing Palisades’ restart includes: Beyond Nuclear; Don’t Waste Michigan; Michigan Safe Energy Future; Nuclear Energy Information Service of Chicago; and Three Mile Island Alert of Pennsylvania. The coalition’s legal counsel are Terry Lodge of Toledo, Ohio, and Wally Taylor of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The coalition’s expert witnesses include Arnie Gundersen, chief engineer at Fairewinds, and Dr. Mark Jacobson, professor at Stanford University.

On Jan. 22, 2025, NRC published a press release about the ASLBP oral argument pre-hearings. But please note that aspects of the press release have been changed — as mentioned above, the ASLBP’s ORDER of Feb. 6, 2025 has changed the start time to 11am ET, and has cancelled the in-person format for the pre-hearing, now making it virtual-only.

More Beyond Nuclear website posts regarding Holtec’s zombie reactor restart scheme at Palisades, as well as its so-called “Small Modular Reactor” new build schemes at Palisades, as well as Big Rock Point, are posted in reverse chronological order, here.

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