US Court of Appeals to Hear Vogtle/AP1000 Argument
WASHINGTON, D.C.//NEWS ADVISORY//Less than two weeks after Tropical Storm Sandy devastated the East Coat of the United States and caused several nuclear reactor shutdowns, attorneys representing nine national and regional organizations will argue on Monday (November 19th), that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission violated federal law when it issued a license for two proposed new reactors at the Vogtle nuclear power plant near Waynesboro, Georgia without fully taking into account the potential for a Fukushima-like disaster.
The oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League v. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will take place at 9:30 a.m. Monday in the fifth floor court room.
Members of the petitioner organizations who live in the small communities that lie close to the existing and proposed Vogtle reactors plan to travel all night by bus to hear the argument.
The groups contend that before licensing the reactors or approving the underlying “AP1000” reactor design, the NRC should have supplemented the Environmental Impact Statement for the reactors to address the risk of a catastrophic accident such as the one that occurred at the six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi complex in Japan in the spring of 2011.
In addition to Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, the groups bringing the appeal include Friends of the Earth, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Citizens Allied for Safe Energy, Center for a Sustainable Coast, Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions, NC WARN, and Nuclear Watch South.
WHO:
Diane Curran, attorney, Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg, L.L.P. In addition to Curran, the groups are also represented by Mindy Goldstein, director of the Turner Environmental Law Clinic, Emory University Law School, and John Runkle, an environmental attorney in Chapel Hill, NC.
WHEN:
Monday, November 19, 2012.
TIME:
9:30 a.m. EST.
WHERE:
U.S. Courthouse, 3rd and Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C., 5th floor.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Summary of Petitioners Argument, here.
Petitioners Vogtle Stay Motion before Court of Appeals, here and Makhijani expert declaration here.
Petitioners Opening Brief, here.
Petitioners Reply Brief, here.
Intervenors (Southern, Westinghouse, etc.) Reply Brief, here.
NRC Reply Brief, here. # # # #