[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 167 (Monday, August 28, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52137-52138]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-21883]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-245, 50-336, and 50-423]


In the Matter of The Connecticut Light and Power Company, Western 
Massachusetts Electric Company, Public Service Company of New 
Hampshire, and Northeast Nuclear Energy Company (Millstone Nuclear 
Power Station, Units 1, 2, and 3); Order Approving Application 
Regarding Corporate Merger of Consolidated Edison, Inc., and Northeast 
Utilities

I

    The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P) holds 81-percent 
ownership interest in Millstone Nuclear Power Station (Millstone) Units 
1 and 2, and 52.9330-percent ownership interest in Millstone Unit 3; 
Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO) holds 19-percent 
ownership in Millstone Units 1 and 2, and 12.2385-percent ownership in 
Millstone Unit 3; and Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) 
holds 2.8475-percent ownership in Millstone, Unit 3. CL&P, WMECO, and 
PSNH are subsidiaries of Northeast Utilities (NU). Ten other investor-
owned and municipal entities unaffiliated with NU hold the remaining 
ownership interests in Millstone Unit 3.
    CL&P and WMECO are holders of Facility Operating License No. DPR-21 
issued by the Atomic Energy Commission pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50 on 
October 7, 1970, for Millstone Unit 1 and Facility Operating License 
No. DPR-65 issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) pursuant 
to 10 CFR Part 50 on September 26, 1975, for Millstone Unit 2. CL&P, 
WMECO, and PSNH (with the other co-owners of Millstone Unit 3) are 
holders of Facility Operating License No. NPF-49 issued by the NRC 
pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50 on January 31, 1986, for Millstone Unit 3. 
Under these licenses, Northeast Nuclear Energy Company (NNEC), an 
affiliate of NU, has the authority to operate Millstone Units 1, 2, and 
3, and is a co-holder of the respective licenses in this regard. 
Millstone is located in New London County, Connecticut.

II

    Pursuant to Section 184 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (the Act), 
as amended, and 10 CFR 50.80, NNEC and North Atlantic Energy Service 
Corporation, on behalf of the NU subsidiary licensees of the Millstone 
units, 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 
licenses for the Millstone units to the extent held by CL&P, PSNH, 
WMECO, and NNEC in connection with the 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. New CEI would 
become the parent corporation to, and sole owner of, CEI of NY and NU. 
CL&P, WMECO, PSNH, and NNEC, will remain subsidiaries of NU. CL&P, 
WMECO, and PSNH would continue to hold their respective ownership 
interests in and possession-only licenses for Millstone Units 1, 2, and 
3. The indirect CEI interest in Indian Point Units 1 and 2 and the 
indirect NU interest in Seabrook Station Unit 1, will be the subject of 
separate orders. NNEC will remain the operator of Millstone Units 1, 2, 
and 3. The NU

[[Page 52138]]

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 facilities 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 18381). 
Pursuant to the notice, a petition for leave to intervene and request 
for hearing regarding the proposed indirect transfer of the licenses 
for the Millstone units has been received from the Connecticut 
Coalition Against Millstone and the Long Island Coalition Against 
Millstone and the matter is currently pending before the Commission.
    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 WMECO, CL&P, PSNH, and NNEC as holders 
of the licenses referenced above, and that the indirect transfer of the 
licenses, 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 transfers referenced above 
is approved subject to the following conditions: (1) CL&P, WMECO, and 
PSNH, 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, WMECO, or PSNH, 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).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of August 2000.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 00-21883 Filed 8-25-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P