[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 13, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14600-14601]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-6172]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-146]


In the Matter of GPU Nuclear, Inc., and Saxton Nuclear 
Experimental Corporation (Saxton Nuclear Experimental Facility); Order 
Approving Application Regarding Merger of GPU, Inc., and FirstEnergy 
Corp.

I

    Saxton Nuclear Experimental Corporation (SNEC) is the owner of the 
Saxton Nuclear Experimental Facility (SNEF). Metropolitan Edison 
Company (Met Ed), Jersey Central Power & Light Company (JCP&L), and 
Pennsylvania Electric Company (Penelec), 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, are the sole shareholders of 
SNEC. SNEC is a non-profit corporation that is not engaged in the

[[Page 14601]]

sale and distribution of electric energy. GPU Nuclear, Inc. (GPUN), 
which maintains SNEF, and SNEC hold Amended Facility License No. DPR-4 
for SNEF issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the 
Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR part 50 on November 15, 1961.

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, December 4, 
2000, February 7, February 19, and February 20, 2001 (collectively 
herein referred to as the application), requesting the Commission's 
approval of the indirect transfer of the license for SNEF in connection 
with the proposed corporate merger of 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 SNEF or operational changes are being proposed in the 
application. GPUN, the licensee authorized to maintain the facility, 
and SNEC, the licensee that owns SNEF, will continue to be so following 
the merger with Met Ed, JCP&L, and Penelec, remaining as the 
shareholders of SNEC. 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 December 4, 2000 (65 FR 75735). 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 
and SNEC as holders of the SNEF license, and that the indirect transfer 
of the license, to the extent effected by the merger, is otherwise 
consistent with applicable provisions 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, 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 application regarding 
the indirect license transfer referenced above is approved subject to 
the following condition:

    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, the supplemental submittals dated 
September 27, November 9, November 14, December 7, 2000, February 7, 
February 19, and February 20, 2001, and the Safety Evaluation dated 
March 7, 2001 , which are available for public 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. 01-6172 Filed 3-12-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P