[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 13, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 14600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-6171]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-320]


In the Matter of GPU Nuclear, Inc., Metropolitan Edison Company, 
Jersey Central Power & Light Company, and Pennsylvania Electric 
Company, (Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit No. 2); Order 
Approving Application Regarding Merger of GPU, Inc., and FirstEnergy 
Corp.

I

    Metropolitan Edison Company (Met Ed) owns 50 percent, Jersey 
Central Power & Light Company (JCP&L) owns 25 percent, and Pennsylvania 
Electric Company (Penelec) owns 25 percent of the Three Mile Island 
Nuclear Station, Unit No. 2 (TMI-2), located in Dauphin County, 
Pennsylvania. GPU Nuclear, Inc. (GPUN) maintains the facility on behalf 
of the owners.
    Met Ed, JCP&L, and Penelec are electric utilities that are engaged 
principally in the sale and distribution of electric energy in 
Pennsylvania and New Jersey in accordance with rates authorized by the 
respective public utilities commissions. GPUN, Met Ed, JCP&L, and 
Penelec, which are all subsidiaries of GPU, Inc., together hold 
Facility Possession-Only License No. DPR-73 for the TMI-2, issued by 
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) pursuant 
to 10 CFR part 50 on September 14, 1993.

II

    Pursuant to Section 184 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as 
amended, and 10 CFR 50.80, GPUN and FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) jointly 
filed an application dated September 26, 2000, which was supplemented 
by submittals dated September 27, November 9, November 14, 2000 and 
February 7, 2001 (collectively herein referred to as the application), 
requesting the Commission's approval to the indirect transfer of the 
TMI-2 license in connection with the proposed corporate merger 
involving GPU, Inc. and FE. The applicants informed the Commission that 
GPU, Inc. the parent holding company of GPUN, Met Ed, JCP&L, and 
Penelec, is planning to be merged with and into FE. FE will remain as 
the surviving corporation in this transaction.
    Upon consummating the merger, FE will become a registered holding 
company under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, and GPUN, 
Met Ed, JCP&L, and Penelec, currently subsidiaries of GPU, Inc., will 
become direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries of FE. No physical 
changes to the TMI-2 facility or operational changes are being proposed 
in the application. GPUN, the TMI-2 licensee authorized to maintain the 
facility, and Met Ed, JCP&L, and Penelec, the licensed owners of TMI-2, 
will continue to be so following the merger. No direct transfer of the 
license will result from the planned merger. Notice of this request for 
approval was published in the Federal Register on November 30, 2000 (65 
FR 71336). No hearing requests or written comments 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 proposed merger of 
GPU, Inc. with and into FE will not affect the qualifications of GPUN, 
Met Ed, JCP&L, and Penelec as holders of the TMI-2 license, and that 
the indirect transfer of the license, to the extent effected by the 
merger, is otherwise consistent with applicable provision of laws, 
regulations, and orders issued by the Commission subject to the 
conditions set forth herein. These findings are supported by a Safety 
Evaluation dated March 7, 2001.

III

    Accordingly, pursuant to sections 161b, 161i, 161o, and 184 of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 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) Met Ed, JCP&L, and Penelec, 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 Met Ed, JCP&L, or Penelec, 
respectively, to its proposed direct or indirect parent or to any 
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 on the respective licensee's books of 
account; and
    (2) should the merger of GPU, Inc. and FE not be completed by 
March 1, 2002, this Order shall become null and void, provided, 
however, upon application and for good cause shown, such date may be 
extended.

IV

    For further details with respect to this Order, see the initial 
application dated September 26, 2000, and supplemental submittals dated 
September 27, November 9, November 14, 2000, and February 7, 2001 and 
the Safety Evaluation dated March 7, 2001, which are available for 
inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, One White Flint North, Room 0-1 F21, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-2738, 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 7th day of March 2001.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-6171 Filed 3-12-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P