[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 10, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 10CFR2.322]

[Page 54-55]
 
                            TITLE 10--ENERGY
 
                CHAPTER I--NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
 
PART 2_RULES OF PRACTICE FOR DOMESTIC LICENSING PROCEEDINGS AND ISSUANCE OF 
 
Subpart C_Rules of General Applicability: Hearing Requests, Petitions To 
 
Sec.  2.322  Special assistants to the presiding officer.

    (a) In consultation with the Chief Administrative Judge, the 
presiding officer may, at his or her discretion, appoint personnel from 
the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel established by the 
Commission to assist the presiding officer in taking evidence and 
preparing a suitable record for review. The appointment may occur at any 
appropriate time during the proceeding but must, at the time of the 
appointment, be subject to the notice and disqualification provisions as 
described in Sec.  2.313. The special assistants may function as:
    (1) Technical interrogators in their individual fields of expertise. 
The interrogators shall study the written testimony and sit with the 
presiding officer to hear the presentation and, where permitted in the 
proceeding, the cross-examination by the parties of all witnesses on the 
issues of the interrogators' expertise. The interrogators shall take a 
leading role in examining the witnesses to ensure that the record is as 
complete as possible;
    (2) Upon consent of all the parties, special masters to hear 
evidentiary presentations by the parties on specific technical matters, 
and, upon completion of the presentation of evidence, to prepare a 
report that would become part of the record. Special masters may rule on 
evidentiary issues brought before them, in accordance with Sec.  2.333. 
Appeals from special masters' rulings may be taken to the presiding 
officer in accordance with procedures established in the presiding 
officer's order appointing the special master. Special masters' reports 
are advisory only; the presiding officer retains final authority with 
respect to the issues heard by the special master;
    (3) Alternate Atomic Safety and Licensing Board members to sit with 
the presiding officer, to participate in the evidentiary sessions on the 
issue for which the alternate members were designated by examining 
witnesses, and to

[[Page 55]]

advise the presiding officer of their conclusions through an on-the-
record report. This report is advisory only; the presiding officer 
retains final authority on the issue for which the alternate member was 
designated; or
    (4) Discovery master to rule on the matters specified in Sec.  
2.1018(a)(2).
    (b) The presiding officer may, as a matter of discretion, informally 
seek the assistance of members of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 
Panel to brief the presiding officer on the general technical background 
of subjects involving complex issues that the presiding officer might 
otherwise have difficulty in quickly grasping. These briefings take 
place before the hearing on the subject involved and supplement the 
reading and study undertaken by the presiding officer. They are not 
subject to the procedures described in Sec.  2.313.