[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 131 (Friday, July 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42036-42038]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-17206]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-317, 50-318, 72-8; Renewed License No. DPR-53; Renewed 
License No. DPR-69; and License No. SNM-2505]


In the Matter of Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (Calvert 
Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2, and Calvert Cliffs 
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Order Approving Transfer 
of Licenses and Conforming Amendments

I

    Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE or the licensee) is the 
holder of Renewed Facility Operating Licenses Nos. DPR-53 and DPR-69, 
which authorize operation of Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Units 
1 and 2 (CCNPP or Calvert Cliffs), and Materials License No. SNM-2505, 
which authorizes operation of the Calvert Cliffs Independent Spent Fuel 
Storage Installation (Calvert Cliffs ISFSI). The facilities are located 
at the licensee's site in Calvert County, Maryland. The operating 
licenses authorize BGE to possess, use, and operate Calvert Cliffs. The 
materials license authorizes BGE to receive, possess, transfer and 
store power reactor spent fuel at the Calvert Cliffs ISFSI.

II

    By application dated February 29, 2000, as supplemented April 7, 
April 27, May 2, May 19, and June 20, 2000 (collectively, the 
application), BGE

[[Page 42037]]

requested that the Commission consent to certain proposed license 
transfers that would be necessary in connection with the corporate 
restructuring of BGE in accordance with Maryland's Electric Customer 
Choice and Competition Act of 1999. Under this restructuring, 
Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (``Constellation Energy''), the parent 
of BGE, has formed a wholly owned subsidiary, Constellation Nuclear 
Group, LLC (``CN''). BGE proposes to transfer ownership of and the 
licenses for CCNPP and the ISFSI to a subsidiary of BGE, Calvert Cliffs 
Nuclear Power Plant, Inc. (``Company''). BGE will then transfer the 
ownership of Company to Constellation Energy, which in turn will 
transfer the ownership of Company to CN. The result will be that CN, as 
owned by Constellation Energy will own Company, which will be the owner 
and licensee of CCNPP and the ISFSI. No physical changes to the 
facilities or operational changes were proposed in the application.
    Approval of the transfer of the facility operating licenses and 
conforming license amendments was requested by BGE pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.80 and 50.90, and approval of the transfer of the materials license 
and conforming amendment was requested by BGE pursuant to 10 CFR 72.50 
and 72.56. Notice of the request for approval and an opportunity for a 
hearing was published in the Federal Register on May 4, 2000 (65 FR 
25963). No hearing requests or written comments were received.
    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. In addition, pursuant to 10 CFR 72.50, no license shall be 
transferred, directly or indirectly, through transfer of control of the 
license, unless the Commission gives its consent in writing. After 
reviewing the information in the application from BGE and other 
information before the Commission and relying upon the representations 
and agreements contained in the application, the NRC staff has 
determined that Company is qualified to be the holder of the licenses 
and that the transfer of the licenses to Company is otherwise 
consistent with applicable provisions of law, regulations, and orders 
issued by the Commission, subject to the conditions set forth below. 
The NRC staff has further found that (1) The application for the 
proposed license amendments complies with the standards and 
requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the 
Commission's rules and regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter 1; (2) 
the facilities will operate in conformity with the application, the 
provisions of the Act, and the rules and regulations of the Commission; 
(3) 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; (4) the 
issuance of the proposed license amendments will not be inimical to the 
common defense and security or the health and safety of the public; and 
(5) 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 June 30, 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 and 10 CFR 72.50, it is hereby ordered that the 
transfer of the licenses, as described herein, to Company is approved, 
subject to the following conditions:
    (1) Company shall, prior to completion of the subject transfers, 
provide the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 
satisfactory documentary evidence that Company has obtained the 
appropriate amount of insurance required of licensees under 10 CFR part 
140 of the Commission's regulations.
    (2) If the transfer of the licenses is not completed by July 1, 
2001, this Order shall become null and void, provided, however, upon 
written application and for good cause shown, such date may in writing 
be extended.
    (3) The decommissioning trust agreement for Calvert Cliffs and the 
ISFSI, at the time the license transfers are effected and thereafter, 
is subject to the following:
    (a) The decommissioning trust agreement must be in a form 
acceptable to the NRC.
    (b) With respect to the decommissioning trust funds, investments in 
the securities or other obligations of Constellation Energy or its 
affiliates, successors, or assigns shall be prohibited. 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 are prohibited.
    (c) The decommissioning trust agreement must provide that no 
disbursements or payments from the trusts shall be made by the trustee 
unless the trustee has first given the NRC 30-days prior written notice 
of payment. The decommissioning trust agreement shall further contain a 
provision that no disbursements or payments from the trusts shall be 
made if the trustee receives prior written notice of objection from the 
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
    (d) The decommissioning trust agreement must provide that the 
agreement cannot be amended in any material respect without 30-days 
prior written notification to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
    (e) The appropriate section of the decommissioning trust agreement 
shall state that the trustee, investment advisor, or anyone else 
directing the investments made in the trusts shall adhere to a 
``prudent investor'' standard, as specified in 18 CFR 35.32(a)(3) of 
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's regulations.
    (4) Company shall provide decommissioning funding assurance, to be 
held in decommissioning trusts for Calvert Cliffs upon the transfer of 
the licenses to Company, in an amount equal to or greater than the 
balance in the Calvert Cliffs decommissioning trusts immediately prior 
to the transfer. In addition, Company shall ensure that all contractual 
arrangements referred to in the application to obtain necessary 
decommissioning funds for Calvert Cliffs through a non-bypassable 
charge are executed and will be maintained until the decommissioning 
trusts are fully funded, or shall ensure that other mechanisms that 
provide equivalent assurance of decommissioning funding in accordance 
with the Commission's regulations are maintained.
    (5) Company shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the 
decommissioning trusts are maintained in accordance with the 
application, the requirements of this Order, and the related safety 
evaluation.
    It is further ordered that, consistent with 10 CFR 2.1315(b), 
license amendments 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. The amendments 
shall be issued with this Order and shall be made effective at the time 
the proposed license transfers are completed.
    This Order is effective upon issuance.
    For further details with respect to this action, see the initial 
application dated February 29, 2000, supplements dated

[[Page 42038]]

April 7, April 27, May 2, May 19, and June 20, 2000, and the safety 
evaluation dated June 30, 2000, which are available for public 
inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman 
Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC, and accessible 
electronically through the ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room link at 
the NRC Web site (http://www.nrc.gov).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of June, 2000.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Roy P. Zimmerman,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
William F. Kane,
Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 00-17206 Filed 7-6-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P