[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 23, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8996-8997]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-4257]
[[Page 8996]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-277 and 50-278]
PECO Energy Company, Public Service Electric and Gas Company,
Delmarva Power and Light Company, Atlantic City Electric Company (Peach
Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3); Order Approving Transfer
of Licenses and Conforming Amendments
I
PECO Energy Company (PECO), Public Service Electric and Gas Company
(PSE&G), Delmarva Power and Light Company, and Atlantic City Electric
Company are the joint owners of the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station,
Units 2 and 3 (Peach Bottom), located in York County, Pennsylvania.
They hold Facility Operating Licenses Nos. DPR-44 and DPR-56 issued by
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) on October
25, 1973, and July 2, 1974, respectively, pursuant to Part 50 of Title
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 50). Under these
licenses, PSE&G (currently owner of 42.5 percent of each Peach Bottom
unit) is authorized (along with the other joint owners) to possess
Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3.
II
By an application dated July 23, 1999, which was supplemented on
October 22, 1999 (collectively referred to as the application herein),
PSE&G requested approval of the proposed transfer of PSE&G's rights
under the operating licenses for both Peach Bottom units to a new,
affiliated nuclear generating company, PSEG Nuclear Limited Liability
Company (PSEG Nuclear). PSEG Nuclear would assume title to PSE&G's
interest in both units following approval of the proposed license
transfers. No physical changes or change in the day-to-day management
and operations of the Peach Bottom units are proposed in the
application. The proposed transfers do not involve any change with
respect to the exclusive operating authority or joint ownership
interest in Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3 held by PECO, or the non-
operating ownership interest in Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3 held by
Delmarva Power and Light Company and Atlantic City Electric Company.
PECO, as the operating licensee for Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3,
submitted a related request for approval of conforming license
amendments to reflect the proposed license transfers to PSEG Nuclear.
The amendments would replace references to Public Service Electric and
Gas Company, or PSE&G, with PSEG Nuclear. The request for amendments,
dated July 1, 1999, and supplemented August 11, and September 1, 1999,
was made by PECO in anticipation of PSE&G's transfer application.
Approval of the transfers and conforming license amendments was
requested pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80 and 50.90. Notice of the application
for transfer approval as well as the request for amendments and an
opportunity for a hearing was published in the Federal Register on
August 5, 1999 (64 FR 42728). No hearing requests were filed.
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 give its consent in
writing. Upon review of the information submitted in the application
and other information before the Commission, the NRC staff has
determined that PSEG Nuclear is qualified to hold the licenses for
Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3 to the same extent the licenses are now held
by PSE&G and that the transfer of the licenses, as previously
described, is otherwise consistent with applicable provisions of law,
regulations, and orders issued by the Commission, subject to the
conditions described 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 license
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 February 14, 2000.
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 transfers
referenced above are approved, subject to the following conditions:
1. For purposes of ensuring public health and safety, PSEG Nuclear
shall provide decommissioning funding assurance, to be held in
decommissioning trust(s) for Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3 upon the
transfer of the respective licenses to PSEG Nuclear, of no less than
the following amounts: Peach Bottom Unit 2: $92.3 million; Peach Bottom
Unit 3: $88.1 million. Any amounts held in any decommissioning trust(s)
maintained by PSE&G for Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3 after such license
transfers subject to the limitations in Paragraph 2 below, may be
credited towards the amounts required under this paragraph.
2. Any decommissioning trust funds established by PSE&G for Peach
Bottom Units 2 and 3 to comply with NRC regulations shall be
transferred to PSEG Nuclear upon the transfer of the respective
licenses, or following the transfer of the licenses but no later than 1
year from the date of issuance of this Order. In the event the
decommissioning trust funds are not transferred by PSE&G to PSEG
Nuclear at the time the license transfers are effected, PSE&G shall
remain subject to the NRC's authority under Section 161 of the Atomic
Energy Act to issue orders to protect health and to minimize danger to
life or property regarding any and all matters concerning such
decommissioning trust funds, until such time as the decommissioning
trust funds are transferred to PSEG Nuclear.
3. PSEG Nuclear shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the
decommissioning trust(s) are maintained in accordance with the
application for the transfer of the Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3 licenses
and the requirements of this Order and the related safety evaluation.
4. If the assets of any decommissioning trusts maintained by PSE&G
for Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3 are retained in such trusts following
the transfer of the respective licenses to PSEG Nuclear instead of
being transferred to any trusts established by PSEG Nuclear, PSE&G
shall maintain the assets as retained in such trusts in accordance with
the application for the transfer of the licenses.
[[Page 8997]]
5. The decommissioning trust agreements for Peach Bottom Units 2
and 3 shall provide that:
(a) The use of assets in both the qualified and non-qualified funds
shall be limited to expenses related to decommissioning of each unit as
defined by the NRC in its regulations and issuances, and as provided in
the unit's license and any amendments thereto. However, upon completion
of decommissioning, as defined above, the assets may be used for any
purpose authorized by law.
(b) Investments in the securities or other obligations of PSE&G 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 trust shall be made by
the trustee until the trustee has first given the NRC 30 days notice of
the payment. In addition, no disbursements or payments from the trust
shall be made if the trustee receives prior written notice of objection
from the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
(d) The trust agreement shall not be modified in any material
respect without prior written notification to the Director, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
(e) The trustee, investment advisor, or anyone else directing the
investments made in the trust shall adhere to a ``prudent investor''
standard, as specified in 18 CFR 35.32(3) of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission's regulations.
6. PSEG Nuclear shall not take any action that would cause PSEG
Power LLC or its parent companies to void, cancel, or diminish the
commitment to fund an extended plant shutdown as represented in the
application for approval of the transfer of the Peach Bottom Units 2
and 3 licenses from PSE&G to PSEG Nuclear.
7. Before the completion of the transfer of the interests in Peach
Bottom Units 2 and 3 to PSEG Nuclear as previously described herein,
PSEG Nuclear shall provide to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, satisfactory documentary evidence that PSEG Nuclear has
obtained the appropriate amount of insurance required of licensees
under 10 CFR Part 140 of the Commission's regulations.
8. After receipt of all required regulatory approvals of the
subject transfer, PSE&G shall inform the Director, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, in writing of such receipt, and of the date of
closing of the transfer to no later than seven business days prior to
the date of closing. Should the transfer not be completed by December
31, 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 for Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3 that make changes, as
indicated in Enclosure 2 to the cover letter forwarding 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 transfer
application dated July 23, 1999, as supplemented October 22, 1999, and
a related application dated June 4, 1999, pertaining to the Hope Creek
and Salem facilities, incorporated by reference in the submittal of
July 23, 1999, and the request for conforming amendments dated July 1,
1999, as supplemented August 11 and September 1, 1999, which are
available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document
Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC.
Publically available records will be accessible electronically from the
ADAMS Public Library component on the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov
(the Electronic Reading Room).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of February 2000.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 00-4257 Filed 2-22-00; 8:45 am]
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