§2.329. Prehearing conference. — Inbound Citations

(3) Unless otherwise stipulated by the parties or directed by order of the presiding officer, these disclosures must be made within 45 days after the issuance of a prehearing conference order following the initial prehearing conference specified in § 2.329. A party must make its initial disclosures based on the information then reasonably available to it. A party is not excused from making its disclosures because it has not fully completed its investigation of the case, because it challenges the sufficiency of another party's disclosures, or because another party has not made its disclosures. The duty of disclosure under this section is continuing. A disclosure update must be made every month after initial disclosures on a due date selected by the presiding officer, unless the parties agree upon a different due date or frequency. The disclosure update shall be limited to documents subject to disclosure under this section and does not need to include documents that are developed, obtained, or discovered during the two weeks before the due date. Disclosure updates shall include any documents subject to disclosure that were not included in any previous disclosure update. The duty to update disclosures relevant to a disputed issue ends when the presiding officer issues a decision resolving that disputed issue, or at such other time as may be specified by the presiding officer or the Commission.

(1) Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the subject matter involved in the proceeding, whether it relates to the claim or defense of any other party, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any books, documents, or other tangible things and the identity and location of persons having knowledge of any discoverable matter. When any book, document, or other tangible thing sought is reasonably available from another source, such as at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov, and/or the NRC Public Document Room, sufficient response to an interrogatory on materials would be the location, the title and a page reference to the relevant book, document, or tangible thing. In a proceeding on an application for a construction permit or an operating license for a production or utilization facility, discovery begins only after the prehearing conference and relates only to those matters in controversy which have been identified by the Commission or the presiding officer in the prehearing order entered at the conclusion of that prehearing conference. In such a proceeding, discovery may not take place after the beginning of the prehearing conference held under § 2.329 except upon leave of the presiding officer upon good cause shown. It is not a ground for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the hearing if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.

(3) A deposition of a particular named NRC employee or answer to interrogatories by NRC personnel under paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) of this section may not be required before the matters in controversy in the proceeding have been identified by order of the Commission or the presiding officer, or after the beginning of the prehearing conference held in accordance with § 2.329, except upon leave of the presiding officer for good cause shown.