Nortel Government Solutions Delivers E-Government Digital Courtrooms To Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington - Nortel Government Solutions has delivered two state-of-the art e-government digital courtrooms to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to help its Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (ASLBP) simplify conduct of complex adjudicatory proceedings.
NRC cases are often exceptionally complex and require ASLBP administrative judges, staff representing the NRC, and other parties to have quick access to a large number of documents.
The new digital courtrooms, located in Rockville, Md. and Las Vegas, address this by providing electronic evidence presentation, digital audio and video transcripts, and electronic capture and display of evidence. This enables immediate electronic access to documents, and live video and audio feeds to ensure the widest possible public access to NRC proceedings.
Due for introduction in upcoming cases as judges and attorneys are trained, the digital courtrooms from Nortel Government Solutions are designed to aid the ASLBP with routine cases as well as more complicated proceedings like anticipated hearings on new reactor licenses.
They are also expected to help with a potential adjudication regarding a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) license application for a commercial nuclear reactor waste storage facility at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, located 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
This proceeding - over three to four years as called for by Congress - could become one of the largest and most complex administrative hearings in U.S. history. The digital database available to these two courtrooms is capable of storing and providing electronic access to the millions of pages of evidence and thousands of hours of testimony that may accumulate.
E-government digital courtroom technology from Nortel Government Solutions has applications for court systems throughout the country in addition to the NRC.
"The NRC's digital courtrooms will serve as a showcase for courtrooms at all levels of government," said Chuck Saffell, chief executive officer, Nortel Government Solutions. "Earlier electronic courtrooms helped organize materials, while others linked audio and video streams. This is the only one to integrate everything into one multimedia system with real-time access to information for all participants."
Nortel Government Solutions served as the prime contractor and systems integrator for the NRC, with Media Edge and ExhibitOne providing hardware, software and integration services to the project. Media Edge, a division of Exceptional Software, focuses on the rapidly evolving Internet multimedia market. ExhibitOne is the nation's leading provider of audiovisual technologies, serving clients around the country in federal, state and enterprise markets.
SOURCE: Nortel Government Solutions