[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 178 (Wednesday, September 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50113-50114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-24056]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-302]


In the Matter of Florida Power Corporation et al. (Crystal River 
Unit 3); Order Approving the Transfer of License and a Conforming 
Amendment

I

    Florida Power Corporation (FPC), owner of 90.4473 percent of 
Crystal River Unit 3 (CR-3), has exclusive responsibility and control 
over the physical construction, operation, and maintenance of the 
facility as reflected in Operating License DPR-72. The City of 
Tallahassee (the City), one of the several joint owners of the 
facility, holds a 1.3333-percent ownership interest in CR-3. The 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) issued License No. 
DPR-72 on December 3, 1976, pursuant to Part 50 of Title 10 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR part 50). The facility is located in 
Citrus County, Florida.

II

    By application dated December 29, 1998, as supplemented on June 18, 
1999 (collectively hereinafter referred to as the application), FPC 
requested approval of the proposed transfer of the City's rights under 
the Operating License for CR-3 to FPC. FPC also requested approval of a 
conforming amendment to reflect the transfer.
    According to the application, the City has agreed to sell its 
1.3333-percent ownership interest in CR-3 to FPC, subject to obtaining 
all necessary regulatory approvals. FPC would continue to have 
exclusive responsibility for the management, operation, and maintenance 
of CR-3. The conforming amendment would remove the City from the 
Facility Operating License and indicate that the City is no longer a 
licensee.
    Approval of the transfer and conforming license amendment was 
requested pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80 and 50.90. Notice of the application 
for approval and an opportunity for a hearing was published in the 
Federal Register on February 26, 1999 (64 FR 9544). No hearing requests 
were filed.
    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 submitted in the application, the NRC staff 
has determined that FPC is qualified to hold the license with respect 
to the additional ownership interest of the City, and that the transfer 
of the license, to the extent it is held by the City, to FPC is 
otherwise consistent with applicable provisions of law, regulations, 
and orders issued by the Commission.
    The NRC staff has further found that the application for the 
proposed license amendment complies with the standards and requirements 
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the 
Commission's rules and regulations set forth in 10 CFR Ch. I; the 
facility will operate in conformity with the application, the 
provisions of the Act, and the rules and regulations of the Commission; 
there is reasonable assurance that the activities authorized by the 
proposed license amendment can be conducted without endangering the 
health and safety of the public and that such activities will be 
conducted in compliance with the Commission's regulations; the issuance 
of the proposed license amendment will not be inimical to the common 
defense and security or to the health and safety of the public; and the 
issuance of the proposed license amendment is in accordance with 10 CFR 
part 51 of the Commission's regulations, and all applicable 
requirements have been satisfied. The findings previously set forth 
herein are supported by a Safety Evaluation dated September 8, 1999.

III

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, and 184 of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2201(b), 2201(i), and 2234, 
and 10 CFR 50.80, it is hereby ordered that the license transfer 
referenced above is approved, subject to the following conditions:
    (a) The use of assets in the City's existing non-qualified 
decommissioning trust fund for CR-3 (Decommissioning Trust Fund) shall 
be limited to the expenses related to decommissioning of CR-3 as 
defined by the NRC in its regulations and issuances, and as provided in 
the CR-3 license and any amendments thereto.
    (b) Decommissioning Trust Fund investments in the securities or 
other obligations of the City or FPC, or affiliates thereof, or their 
successors or assigns, shall be prohibited. In addition, except for 
investments tied to market indexes or other non-nuclear sector mutual 
funds, investments in any entity owning one or more nuclear power 
plants shall be prohibited.
    (c) No disbursements or payments from the Decommissioning Trust 
Fund shall be made by the trustee until the trustee has first given the 
NRC thirty (30) days notice of payment. No disbursements or payments 
from the Decommissioning Trust Fund shall be made if the trustee 
receives prior written notice of objection from the Director, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation, NRC.
    (d) The agreement governing the Decommissioning Trust Fund shall be 
amended, to the extent necessary, to be consistent with this Order. It 
then shall not be modified in any material respect without prior 
written consent of the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, 
NRC.
    (e) FPC shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the 
maintenance of, and disbursal of funds from, the Decommissioning Trust 
Fund is in accordance or consistent with the application, this Order, 
and the supporting safety evaluation.
    (f) After receipt of all required regulatory approvals of the 
transfer of the City's interest in CR-3 to FPC, FPC shall inform the 
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, in writing, of such 
receipt within five business

[[Page 50114]]

days, and of the date of the closing of the sale and transfer of the 
City's interest to FPC no later than seven business days prior to the 
date of closing. Should the transfer not be completed by December 31, 
1999, this Order shall become null and void, provided, however, on 
application and for good cause shown, such date may be extended.
    It is further ordered that, consistent with 10 CFR 2.1315(b), a 
license amendment that makes changes, as indicated in Enclosure 2 to 
the cover letter forwarding this Order, to conform the license to 
reflect the subject license transfer is approved. Such amendment shall 
be issued and made effective at the time the proposed license transfer 
is completed.
    This Order is effective upon issuance.
    For further details with respect to this Order, see the initial 
application dated December 29, 1998, and supplement dated June 18, 
1999, which are available for public inspection at the Commission's 
Public Document Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NW., 
Washington, DC, and at the local public document room located at the 
Coastal Region Library, 8619 W. Crystal Street, Crystal River, Florida 
34428.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of September 1999.

    or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Roy P. Zimmerman,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 99-24056 Filed 9-14-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P