[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 167 (Monday, August 28, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52136-52137]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-21881]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-443]


In the Matter of Connecticut Light and Power Company, North 
Atlantic Energy Corporation, and North Atlantic Energy Service 
Corporation (Seabrook Station, Unit 1); Order Approving Application 
Regarding Corporate Merger of Consolidated Edison, Inc., and Northeast 
Utilities

I

    The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P) holds 4.05985-
percent ownership interest in Seabrook Station, Unit 1, and North 
Atlantic Energy Corporation (NAEC) holds 35.98201-percent ownership 
interest in Seabrook Station, Unit 1. CL&P and NAEC are subsidiaries of 
Northeast Utilities (NU). Nine other investor-owned and municipal 
entities unaffiliated with NU are holders of the remaining ownership 
interests in Seabrook Station, Unit 1.
    CL&P and NAEC with the other co-owners of Seabrook Station, Unit 1 
are holders of Facility Operating License No. NPF-86 issued by the NRC 
pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50 on March 15, 1990 for Seabrook Station, Unit 
1. Under this license, North Atlantic Energy Service Corporation 
(NAESC), also a subsidiary of NU, has the authority to operate Seabrook 
Station, Unit 1, and is co-holder of the license in this regard. 
Seabrook Station is located in Rockingham County, New Hampshire.

II

    Pursuant to Section 184 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (the Act), 
as amended, and 10 CFR 50.80, Northeast Nuclear Energy Company and 
NAESC, on behalf of the NU subsidiary licensees of the Seabrook unit, 
and Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (CEI of NY), a 
subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (CEI), jointly filed an 
application dated January 13, 2000, as supplemented by letter dated May 
2, 2000 (collectively herein referred to as the application), 
requesting the Commission's approval of the indirect transfer of the 
license for the Seabrook unit, to the extent held by CL&P, NAEC, and 
NAESC, in connection with proposed corporate mergers involving CEI and 
NU. The applicants informed the Commission that CEI and NU were in the 
process of implementing a corporate merger in which CEI and NU will be 
combined through two simultaneous mergers: the merger of CEI into New 
CEI, a Delaware corporation, and the merger of an indirect, wholly 
owned subsidiary of New CEI with NU.

[[Page 52137]]

New CEI would become the parent corporation to, and sole owner of, CEI 
of NY and NU. CL&P, NAEC, and NAESC will remain subsidiaries of NU. 
CL&P and NAEC would continue to hold their respective ownership 
interests in and possession-only license for Seabrook Station, Unit 1. 
The indirect CEI interest in Indian Point Units 1 and 2 and the 
indirect NU interest in Millstone Units 1, 2, and 3 will be the subject 
of separate orders. NAESC will remain the operator of Seabrook Station, 
Unit 1. The NU subsidiary owners would each remain an ``electric 
utility'' as defined in 10 CFR 50.2, engaged in the generation, 
transmission, and distribution of electric energy for wholesale and 
retail sale. No physical changes to the facility or operational changes 
are being proposed in the application. Notice of this request for 
approval was published in the Federal Register on April 7, 2000 (65 FR 
18380). No hearing requests concerning Seabrook, Unit 1, were received.
    Under 10 CFR 50.80, no license shall be transferred, directly or 
indirectly, through transfer of control of the license, unless the 
Commission gives 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 the corporate merger will 
not affect the qualifications of CL&P, NAEC, and NAESC as holders of 
the license referenced above, and that the indirect transfer of the 
license, to the extent effected by the merger, is otherwise consistent 
with applicable provisions of law, regulations, and orders issued by 
the Commission subject to the conditions set forth herein. These 
findings are supported by a Safety Evaluation dated August 22, 2000.

III

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, 161o, and 184 of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 USC 2201(b), 2201(i), 
2201(o), and 2234; and 10 CFR 50.80, It Is Hereby Ordered, That the 
application regarding the indirect license transfer referenced above is 
approved subject to the following conditions: (1) CL&P and NAEC as 
applicable, shall provide the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation a copy of any application, at the time it is filed, to 
transfer (excluding grants of security interests or liens) from CL&P or 
NAEC respectively, to its proposed direct or indirect parent or to any 
other affiliated company, facilities for the production, transmission, 
or distribution of electric energy having a depreciated book value 
exceeding ten percent (10%) of the subject licensee's consolidated net 
utility plant, as recorded in the licensee's books of account and (2) 
should the corporate merger of CEI and NU not be completed by December 
31, 2001, this Order shall become null and void, provided, however, on 
application and for good cause shown, such date may be extended.
    For further details with respect to this action, see the initial 
application dated January 13, 2000, the supplemental letter dated May 
2, 2000, and the Safety Evaluation dated August 22, 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).

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of August 2000.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 00-21881 Filed 8-25-00; 8:45 am]
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