[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 228 (Monday, November 27, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70740-70741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-30101]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-277 and 50-278]
PECO Energy Company and PSEG Nuclear LLC et al.; Notice of
Consideration of Approval of Transfer of Facility Operating Licenses
and Conforming Amendments, and Opportunity for a Hearing
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is
considering the issuance of an order under 10 CFR 50.80 approving the
transfer of Facility Operating License No. DPR-44 for the Peach Bottom
Atomic Power Station (PBAPS), Unit 2, and Facility Operating License
No. DPR-56 for PBAPS, Unit 3, to the extent currently held by the
Delmarva Power & Light Company (DP&L) and the Atlantic City Electric
Company (ACE) in connection with each of their 7.51 percent undivided
ownership interests in each of the two Peach Bottom units. The transfer
would be to PSEG Nuclear LLC, and to either the PECO Energy Company
(PECO) as a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, or to Exelon Generation
Company, LLC (EGC) as an indirect subsidiary of Exelon Corporation,
depending on the timing of the transfers. The Commission is also
considering amending the licenses for administrative purposes to
reflect the proposed transfer.
The Commission previously issued an order on April 21, 2000,
approving the transfer of half of the ownership interests of DP&L and
ACE in PBAPS Units 2 and 3 to PSEG Nuclear LLC and the other half to
PECO. One of the bases of that order was that the interests of DP&L and
ACE would be transferred collectively and simultaneously. On the other
hand, it was not necessarily assumed that PECO would be a subsidiary of
Exelon Corporation. PECO became a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation on
October 20, 2000.
According to an application for approval dated October 10, 2000,
filed by PECO on behalf of itself, PSEG Nuclear LLC, DP&L, and ACE, the
transfer of each of the half-interests of DP&L and ACE may not occur at
the same time; the transfer of the ACE interests may be delayed until
after the transfer of the DP&L interests. If the DP&L and ACE interests
are not transferred simultaneously and collectively, decommissioning
funding arrangements would be changed from what had been previously
approved by the April 21, 2000 order. In particular, a contractual
guarantee by ACE would be utilized to provide, in part, decommissioning
funding assurance with respect to any DP&L transfer occurring first.
Furthermore, those DP&L and ACE interests originally proposed and
approved to be transferred to PECO are now explicitly being proposed to
be transferred directly from DP&L and ACE, or ultimately and indirectly
through PECO, to EGC. Although the transfer of PECO's current 42.49
percent ownership interest in PBAPS, Units 2 and 3, to EGC has been
approved by an order dated August 3, 2000, approving certain license
transfers, the transfer of half of the current DP&L and ACE ownership
interests to EGC has not been expressly approved by the NRC. By the
October 10, 2000, application filed, PECO is seeking all NRC approvals
that would be necessary to permit the implementation of any of the
foregoing scenarios. PECO is also requesting that the effectiveness of
the April 21, 2000 NRC order be extended for one additional year.
PECO is the licensed operator of PBAPS, and would continue to be
responsible for the operation, maintenance, and eventual
decommissioning of PBAPS until all PECO interests in PBAPS are
transferred to EGC. No physical changes to PBAPS or operational changes
are being proposed in the application.
The proposed conforming amendments would remove references in the
licenses to ACE and DP&L as appropriate to the timing of the requisite
license transfers, and reflect the appropriate transferees.
Pursuant to 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
[[Page 70741]]
give its consent in writing. The Commission will approve an application
for the transfer of a license, if the Commission determines that the
proposed transferee is qualified to hold the license, and that the
transfer is otherwise consistent with applicable provisions of law,
regulations, and orders issued by the Commission pursuant thereto.
Before issuance of the proposed conforming license amendments, the
Commission will have made findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's regulations.
As provided in 10 CFR 2.1315, unless otherwise determined by the
Commission with regard to a specific application, the Commission has
determined that any amendment to the license of a utilization facility
which does no more than conform the license to reflect the transfer
action involves no significant hazards consideration. No contrary
determination has been made with respect to this specific license
amendment application. In light of the generic determination reflected
in 10 CFR 2.1315, no public comments with respect to significant
hazards considerations are being solicited, notwithstanding the general
comment procedures contained in 10 CFR 50.91.
The filing of requests for hearing and petitions for leave to
intervene, and written comments with regard to the license transfer
application, are discussed below.
By December 18, 2000, any person whose interest may be affected by
the Commission's action on the application may request a hearing, and,
if not the applicants, may petition for leave to intervene in a hearing
proceeding on the Commission's action. Requests for a hearing and
petitions for leave to intervene should be filed in accordance with the
Commission's rules of practice set forth in Subpart M, ``Public
Notification, Availability of Documents and Records, Hearing Requests
and Procedures for Hearings on License Transfer Applications,'' of 10
CFR Part 2. In particular, such requests and petitions must comply with
the requirements set forth in 10 CFR 2.1306, and should address the
considerations contained in 10 CFR 2.1308(a). Untimely requests and
petitions may be denied, as provided in 10 CFR 2.1308(b), unless good
cause for failure to file on time is established. In addition, an
untimely request or petition should address the factors that the
Commission will also consider, in reviewing untimely requests or
petitions, set forth in 10 CFR 2.1308(b)(1)-(2).
Requests for a hearing and petitions for leave to intervene should
be served upon counsel for PECO Energy Company, Paul J. Zaffuts,
Esquire, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP, 1800 M Street, NW, Washington,
DC 20036-5869 (tel: 202-467-7537 and e-mail: [email protected]);
counsel for PSEG Nuclear LLC, David A. Repka, Esquire, Winston &
Strawn, 1400 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005-3502 (tel: 202-371-5726
and e-mail: [email protected]); counsel for Atlantic City Electric
Company and Delmarva Power & Light Company, John H. O'Neill, Jr.,
Esquire, and Matias F. Travieso-Diaz, Esquire, Shaw Pittman, 2300 N.
Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037-1128 (tel: 202-663-8148 e-mail:
john.o'[email protected]); the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555 (e-mail address for filings
regarding license transfer cases only: [email protected]); and the
Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications
Staff, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.1313.
The Commission will issue a notice or order granting or denying a
hearing request or intervention petition, designating the issues for
any hearing that will be held and designating the Presiding Officer. A
notice granting a hearing will be published in the Federal Register and
served on the parties to the hearing.
As an alternative to requests for hearing and petitions to
intervene, by December 27, 2000, persons may submit written comments
regarding the license transfer application, as provided for in 10 CFR
2.1305. The Commission will consider and, if appropriate, respond to
these comments, but such comments will not otherwise constitute part of
the decisional record. Comments should be submitted to the Secretary,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001,
Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, and should cite the
publication date and page number of this Federal Register notice.
For further details with respect to this action, see the
application dated October 10, 2000, which may be examined, and/or
copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room, located at One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, MD,
and is accessible electronically through the ADAMS Public Electronic
Reading Room link at the NRC Web site: http://www.nrc.gov.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 20th day of November 2000.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John P. Boska,
Project Manager, Section 2, Project Directorate I, Division of
Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 00-30101 Filed 11-24-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P