TOWNSHEND — Point of clarification: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be holding a public meeting, not a public hearing.
In a meeting, there is no test of truthfulness. In a hearing, everything the NRC says in under oath and on the record. NRC regulations require the agency to come hold this one public meeting on the Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report.
However, whenever NRC licensing actions involve nuclear reactors, as is the case at Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, an opportunity to file requests for a hearing and to file a petition to intervene comes with that licensing action.
Each time Entergy requests a license amendment or exemption from regulations is an opportunity for the public to challenge that action with all parties under oath.
I encourage all to attend the public meeting on Feb. 19 and to see it as the beginning, rather than the end, of opportunities to engage the NRC on the PSDAR, spent fuel storage, and decommissioning at VY.