[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 5, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10094-10095]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-5386]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-344]


Portland General Electric Company, Trojan Nuclear Plant; 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is 
considering the issuance of an order approving an application regarding 
a proposed merger involving the holding company for Portland General 
Electric Company (PGE, the licensee), holder of Facility Operating 
License No. NPF-1, for the Trojan Nuclear Plant located on the west 
bank of the Columbia River in Columbia County, Oregon. The Trojan 
Nuclear Plant permanently ceased operating in January 1993 and is being 
decommissioned.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action would approve, by issuance of an order, the 
application under 10 CFR 50.80 regarding the merger between Portland 
General Corporation (PGC), the parent company of PGE, a 67.5 percent 
holder of the Trojan Nuclear Plant license, and Enron Corporation 
(Enron). Enron is a Delaware corporation engaged in the gathering, 
transportation, and wholesale marketing of natural gas. PGC has agreed 
to a merger with Enron, subject to certain conditions. Those conditions

[[Page 10095]]

include approval by the shareholders of the companies and obtaining 
appropriate governmental approvals which do not impose terms or 
conditions that would be reasonably likely to have an adverse effect on 
PGE or Enron. Under an Agreement and Plan of Merger, Enron will become 
an Oregon corporation (hereinafter referred to as the ``Merger 
Company''), and PGC will merge with and into the Merger Company. Shares 
of stock held in Enron and in PGC would be converted into shares of the 
Merger Company on a one-for-one basis. The proposed action is in 
accordance with PGE's application dated August 20 1996, as supplemented 
by letters dated October 16, 1996, and October 30, 1996.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is required to facilitate the merger between 
PGC and Enron.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The Commission has completed its evaluation of the proposed merger 
and concludes that there will be no physical or operational change to 
the decommissioning activities now in progress at the Trojan Nuclear 
Plant as a result of the merger. The merger will not affect the 
qualifications or organizational affiliations of the personnel 
responsible for the decommissioning activities at the Trojan Nuclear 
Plant.
    The merger will not affect PGE's status as a regulated public 
utility in the State of Oregon. PGE will continue to be headquartered 
in Portland, Oregon and senior management will remain in place. 
According to the licensee, the planned merger of PGE's parent company, 
PGC, with the Merger Company should improve the overall financial 
strength and stability of PGE's parent after the merger. After the 
merger, PGE will continue to be the NRC licensee for Trojan Nuclear 
Plant and no direct transfer of the operating license or interests in 
the unit will result from the merger.
    The Commission has evaluated the environmental impact of the 
proposed action and has determined that the probability and 
consequences of accidents would not be increased by the merger, and 
that radiological releases, both normal releases and accidental 
releases, would not be greater than previously evaluated. Further, the 
Commission has determined that the merger would not increase 
occupational radiological exposure. Accordingly, the Commission 
concludes that there are no significant radiological environmental 
impacts associated with the proposed action.
    With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the merger would 
not affect nonradiological plant effluents and would have no other 
environmental impact. Therefore, the Commission concludes that there 
are no significant nonradiological environmental impacts associated 
with the proposed action.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    Having concluded that there are no significant environmental 
effects that would result from the proposed action, the Commission has 
no need to evaluate any alternative with equal or greater environmental 
impacts.
    The principal alternative would be to deny the requested action. 
Denial of the application would not change the environmental impact. 
The environmental impact of the proposed action and the alternative 
action are the same.

Alternative Use of Resources

    This action does not involve the use of any resources not 
previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for the 
Trojan Nuclear Plant dated August 1973 or the Final Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement on Decommissioning of Nuclear 
Facilities, dated August 1988.

Agencies and Persons Contacted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on Feb. 10, 1997, the staff 
consulted with Mr. Adam Bless, of the Oregon Department of Energy, 
regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. Mr. Bless 
had no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the environmental assessment, the Commission 
concludes that the proposed action will not have a significant effect 
on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the Commission 
has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the 
proposed action.
    For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the 
licensee's letter dated August 20 1996, as supplemented by letters 
dated October 16, 1996, and October 30, 1996, which are available for 
public inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, Gelman 
Building, 2120 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., and at the local 
public document room for the Trojan Nuclear Plant located at the 
Branford Price Millar Library, Portland State University, Portland, 
Oregon 97207.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of February 1997.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Seymour H. Weiss,
Director, Non-Power Reactors and Decommissioning Project Directorate, 
Division of Reactor Program Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 97-5386 Filed 3-4-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P