[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 200 (Monday, October 16, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61195-61196]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-26474]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Docket Nos. 50-295, 50-304
In the Matter of Commonwealth Edison Company (Zion Nuclear Power
Station, Units 1 and 2); Order Approving Application Regarding Proposed
Corporate Restructuring
I
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd, the licensee) is the holder of
Facility Operating Licenses Nos. DPR-39 and DPR-48 for the Zion Nuclear
Power Station, Units 1 and 2 (the facility). The facility was shut down
permanently in February 1997. ComEd certified the permanent shutdown on
February 13, 1998, and certified that all fuel had been removed from
the reactor vessels on March 9, 1998. In accordance with 10 CFR
50.82(a)(2), the facility operating licenses no longer authorize ComEd
to operate the reactors or to load fuel in the reactor vessels. The
facility is located at the licensee's site in Lake County, Illinois.
II
By application dated July 7, 2000, ComEd requested approval of the
proposed indirect transfer of the facility operating licenses to the
extent now held by ComEd to Exelon Corporation, to be formed in
connection with the proposed merger of Unicom Corporation (Unicom), the
parent of ComEd, and PECO Energy Company (PECO). Supplemental
information was provided by submittals dated July 13 and September 1,
2000. Hereinafter, the July 7, 2000, application and supplemental
information will be referred to collectively as the ``application.''
Under the proposed merger, ComEd will become a direct or indirect
subsidiary of Exelon Corporation. The
[[Page 61196]]
merger was previously the subject of an order dated August 3, 2000, by
which the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the transfer of
the Zion licenses to Exelon Generation Company, LLC (EGC). EGC will be
formed in connection with the merger as an indirect subsidiary of
Exelon Corporation to acquire the generating assets of PECO and ComEd.
The August 3, 2000, order effectively allows ComEd's Zion assets to be
transferred to EGC. According to the application here, the transfer of
these assets may be delayed beyond the closing of the merger. During
this interim period, Exelon Corporation would be the direct parent of
ComEd as ComEd continues to hold the Zion facility pending the receipt
of necessary approvals to allow the facility to be transferred to EGC.
Specifically, ComEd would continue to be the sole owner of, and be
authorized to maintain Zion, Units 1 and 2.
By a separate application dated July 7, 2000, PECO requested
approval of the indirect transfer of the facility operating licenses
that it holds to Exelon Corporation, which would occur under
circumstances similar to the above for ComEd. That application is being
addressed separately.
Approval of the indirect transfer of the facility operating
licenses was requested by ComEd pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80. Notice of the
request for approval and an opportunity for a hearing was published in
the Federal Register on August 31, 2000 (65 FR 53041). The Commission
received no comments or requests for hearing pursuant to such notice.
Under 10 CFR 50.80, no license, or any right thereunder, shall be
transferred, directly or indirectly, through transfer of control of the
license, unless the Commission shall give its consent in writing. Upon
review of the information in the application by ComEd, and other
information before the Commission, the NRC staff has determined that
the proposed corporate restructuring under which Exelon Corporation
will become the parent of ComEd will not affect the qualifications of
ComEd as holder of the licenses described above, and that the indirect
transfer of the licenses, to the extent effected by the proposed
corporate merger, is otherwise consistent with applicable provisions of
law, regulations, and orders issued by the Commission, subject to the
conditions set forth below.
The findings set forth above, are supported by a safety evaluation
dated October 5, 2000.
III
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, 161o, and 184 of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 USC 2201(b), 2201(i),
2201(o), and 2234; and 10 CFR 50.80, It Is Hereby Ordered that the
application regarding the indirect license transfers related to the
proposed corporate restructuring is approved, subject to the following
conditions:
(1) ComEd shall provide the Director of the Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation a copy of any application, at the time it is
filed, to transfer (excluding grants of security interests or liens)
from ComEd to its proposed parent, or to any other affiliated
company, facilities for the production, transmission, or
distribution of electric energy having a depreciated book value
exceeding ten percent (10%) of ComEd's consolidated net utility
plant, as recorded on ComEd's books of account, provided, however,
this condition shall apply only for so long as ComEd holds a license
issued pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50.
(2) Should the proposed merger and restructuring not be
completed by October 5, 2001, this Order shall become null and void,
provided, however, upon written application and for good cause
shown, such date may in writing be extended.
This Order is effective upon issuance.
For further details with respect to this Order, see the initial
application dated July 7, 2000, and supplemental submittals dated July
13 and September 1, 2000, and the safety evaluation dated October 5,
2000, which are available for public inspection at the Commission's
Public Document Room located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, and accessible electronically
through the ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room link at the NRC Web
site
(http://www.nrc.gov).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day of October 2000.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
[FR Doc. 00-26474 Filed 10-13-00; 8:45 am]
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