[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 194 (Thursday, October 7, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54650-54651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-26144]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-334 and 50-412]


Duquesne Light Co., Firstenergy Nuclear Operating Co., 
Pennsylvania Power Co., (Beaver Valley Power Station, Units 1 and 2), 
Order Approving Transfer of Licenses and Conforming Amendments

I

    The Duquesne Light Company (DLC), Ohio Edison Company, and 
Pennsylvania Power Company (Penn Power) are the licensees of the Beaver 
Valley Power Station, Unit 1 (BVPS-1). DLC, Ohio Edison Company, The 
Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI), and Toledo Edison 
Company are the licensees of the Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit 2 
(BVPS-2). DLC acts as agent for the licensees and has exclusive 
responsibility for, and control over, the physical construction, 
operation, and maintenance of BVPS-1 and BVPS-2 as reflected in 
Operating Licenses Nos. DPR-66 and NPF-73. With the exception of DLC, 
Penn Power and each of the remaining licensees are wholly owned 
subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corporation (FE). The U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued Operating License No. DPR-66 on July 
2, 1976, and Operating License No. NPF-73 on August 14, 1987, pursuant 
to Part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 
50). The facility is located in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

II

    Under cover of a letter dated May 5, 1999, DLC and FirstEnergy 
Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), acting for itself and on behalf of 
Penn Power, jointly submitted an application requesting license 
transfer approvals with respect to Operating Licenses DPR-66 and NPF-73 
in connection with the proposed transfer of DLC's 47.5-percent 
ownership interest in BVPS-1 and DLC's 13.74-percent ownership interest 
in BVPS-2 to Penn Power; approval of the transfer of DLC's operating 
authority under licenses to FENOC; and approval of conforming 
amendments to reflect the transfers. Supplemental information was 
provided by DLC under cover of letters dated June 22 and July 30, 1999 
(collectively with the application of May 5, 1999, referred to 
hereinafter as the ``application'').
    No physical changes will be made to BVPS-1 or BVPS-2 as a result of 
the proposed transfers, and there will be no significant change in the 
operations of BVPS-1 or BVPS-2, according to the application. FENOC 
would become the agent for the joint owners of the facility and would 
have exclusive responsibility for the management, operation, 
maintenance, and eventual decommissioning of BVPS-1 and BVPS-2. The 
conforming amendments would remove DLC from the facility operating 
licenses, reflect Penn Power as a co-owner of BVPS-2, and indicate that 
FENOC is the authorized operator of BVPS-1 and BVPS-2.
    Approval of the proposed license transfers and conforming license 
amendments 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 June 14, 1999 (64 FR 31880). 
Before such notice was published, the Commission received a Petition to 
Intervene dated June 3, 1999, from Local 29, International Brotherhood 
of Electrical Workers (Local 29). DLC and FE each filed an answer to 
the petition on June 16, 1999. Local 29 filed its reply to the DLC and 
FE answers on June 23, 1999, requesting that the Commission deny the 
DLC and FE answers and grant Local 29's Petition to Intervene as of 
right. The Commission issued a Memorandum and Order \1\ on July 23, 
1999, denying Local 29's Petition to Intervene and referred Local 29's 
comments to the NRC staff for consideration during review of the 
license transfer application. Subsequently, on September 15, 1999, 
Local 29 filed a Petition to Waive Time Limits in 10 CFR 2.1305 and 
Supplemental Comments. FE filed an answer to this second petition on 
September 21, 1999, and DLC filed an answer on September 23, 1999. The 
Commission issued a Memorandum and Order \2\ on September 24, 1999, 
which granted Local 29 a waiver of the 10 CFR 2.1305 time limits for 
filing comments and referred Local 29's comments to the NRC staff for 
consideration during review of the license transfer application. Local 
29's comments are addressed in the staff's safety evaluation dated 
September 30, 1999.
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    \1\ Duquesne Light Company, et al. (Beaver Valley Power Station, 
Units 1 and 2), CLI-99-23, 59 NRC ____ slip. op. (July 23, 1999).
    \2\ Duquesne Light Company, et al. (Beaver Valley Power Station, 
Units 1 and 2), CLI-99-25, 59 NRC ____ slip. op. (September 24, 
1999).
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    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 contained in the application and other 
information before the Commission, the NRC staff has determined that 
Penn Power and FENOC are qualified to hold the licenses as proposed in 
the application, and that the transfer of the licenses, to the extent 
proposed in the application, is otherwise consistent with applicable 
provisions of law, regulations, and orders issued by the Commission, 
subject to the conditions set forth herein. The NRC staff has further 
found that the application for the proposed license amendments 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 Chapter 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 amendments 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 
amendments 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 amendments will be in accordance with 10 CFR Part 51 of the 
Commission's regulations, and all applicable requirements have been 
satisfied. The foregoing findings are supported by a safety evaluation 
dated September 30, 1999.

III

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, and 184 of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954, as amended; 42 U.S.C. Secs. 2201(b), 2201(i), and 
2234; and 10 CFR 50.80, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the license transfers 
referenced above are approved, subject to the following conditions:

    (1) All decommissioning funding arrangements pertaining to the 
transfer of DLC's ownership interests to Penn Power, as set forth in 
the application and the safety evaluation supporting this Order, 
shall be implemented and fulfilled.
    (2) Penn Power and FENOC shall, prior to completion of the 
subject transfers, provide the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, satisfactory documentary

[[Page 54651]]

evidence that Penn Power and FENOC have obtained the appropriate 
amount of insurance required of licensees under 10 CFR Part 140 of 
the Commission's regulations.
    (3) After the receipt of all required regulatory approvals of 
the transfer of DLC's interest in BVPS-1 and BVPS-2 to Penn Power, 
and operating authority to FENOC, FENOC shall inform the Director, 
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, in writing, of such receipt 
within five business days, and of the date of the closing of the 
transfer no later than seven business days prior to the date of 
closing. Should the transfer not be completed by September 30, 2000, 
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), 
license amendments that make changes, as indicated in the attachment to 
this Order, to conform the licenses to reflect the subject license 
transfers are approved. Such amendments shall be issued and made 
effective at the time the proposed license transfers are completed.
    This Order is effective upon issuance.
    For further details with respect to this Order, see the initial 
application dated May 5, 1999, as supplemented June 22, and July 30, 
1999, and the safety evaluation dated September 30, 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 B.F. Jones Memorial 
Library, 663 Franklin Avenue, Aliquippa, PA 15001.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of September 1999.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 99-26144 Filed 10-6-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P