The issues discussed during a formal or informal hearing often are resolved by the NRC issuing a decision on the hearing. Hearings and the decision process are governed by the Commission's Rules of Practice for Domestic Licensing Proceedings and Issuance of Orders in 10 CFR Part 2.

As explained on the Hearing Process page, judges are selected from the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel to conduct hearings. The Commission may also elect to conduct a hearing or to review an initial decision of the judges. A party to a hearing may appeal to the Commission to review an initial hearing decision, and the Commission may decide that an appeal merits its review.

Each decision is identified by an alphanumeric designator that is an abbreviation for the issuing official plus the year plus the number of the decision for that year (e.g., LBP-05-01 for a Licensing Board Panel presiding officer decision or CLI-05-01 for a Commission decision).

Hearing decisions are also available in Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). The decision designator (e.g., LBP-05-01 or CLI-05-01) appears in the "Case or Reference Number" field. If you need help obtaining hearing decisions or in searching the hearing dockets, contact the Public Document Room.