William J. Brennan, Jr.

“ We hold, therefore, that the Court of Appeals erred in setting aside the order of AEC continuing PRDC's provisional construction permit in effect. We deem it appropriate to add a few words concerning the fears of nuclear disaster which respondents so urgently place before us. The respondents' argument is tantamount to an insistence that the Commission cannot be counted on, when the time comes to make a definitive safety finding, wholly to exclude the consideration that PRDC will have made an enormous investment. ”

“ No license to operate may be issued to PRDC until a full hazards report has been filed, until the AEC's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards makes a full investigation and public report on safety to the Commission, until the Commission itself, after notice and hearings at which respondents, if they desire, may be heard, has made the safety-of-operation finding required by § 182, subd. a and Reg. 50.35, and until the other requirements of § 185 have been met. It may be that an operating license will never be issued. If one is, that will not be the end of the matter. ”

“ The crucial regulation for our purposes is the Commission's regulation 50.35, 10 CFR § 50.35:
's 50.35 Extended time for providing technical information. Where, because of the nature of a proposed project, an applicant is not in a position to supply initially all of the technical information otherwise required to complete the application, he shall indicate the reason, the items or kinds of information omitted, and the approximate times when such data will be produced. ”

“ The respondents may have judicial review. Moreover, the Commission's responsibility for supervision of PRDC continues. For, under Reg. 50.57, 10 CFR § 50.57, operation at full power (100,000 electric kilowatts) will not be permitted until several steps of gradually increasing operation have been successfully mastered, with a full public hearing at each step, and no further advance permitted without the AEC's being fully satisfied that a step-up will meet the high safety standards imposed by law. ”

“ This regulation, obviously, elaborates upon and describes in fuller detail the step-by-step licensing procedure contemplated by §§ 182 and 185. It states, pursuant to the authority conferred by §§ 104, subd. b and 161, subd. i (3) , what safety findings shall be required at each stage of the proceeding. ”