[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