[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 197 (Thursday, October 11, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51980-51981]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-25566]


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

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-338 and 50-339; Docket No. 72-16]


Virginia Electric and Power Company (VEPCO); North Anna Power 
Station, Units 1 and 2; North Anna Independent Spent Fuel Storage 
Installation; Notice of Consideration of Approval of Transfer of 
Facility Operating and Materials Licenses and Conforming Amendments, 
and Opportunity for a Hearing

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is 
considering the issuance of an order under 10 CFR 50.80 and 72.50 
approving the transfer of Facility Operating Licenses Nos. NPF-4 and 
NPF-7, for the North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 2; and Special 
Nuclear Material License No. SNM-2507 for the North Anna Independent 
Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) currently held by VEPCO, as 
owner and licensed operator. The transfer would be to Dominion 
Generation Corporation (Dominion Generation), which, following certain 
steps occurring essentially contemporaneously, will be a subsidiary of 
Dominion Energy Holdings, Inc., which in turn will be a holding company 
subsidiary of Dominion Resources, Inc. (DRI), holding all of DRI's 
generation assets. DRI is presently the parent of VEPCO. The Commission 
is further considering amending the licenses for administrative 
purposes to reflect the proposed transfer.
    According to applications for approval filed by VEPCO, Dominion 
Generation would assume title to the facility and ISFSI following 
approval of the proposed license transfers, and would be responsible 
for the operation, maintenance, and eventual decommissioning of the 
North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 2 and ISFSI. No physical changes 
to the facility or ISFSI or operational changes are being proposed in 
the applications.
    The proposed amendments would replace references to VEPCO in the 
licenses with references to Dominion Generation to reflect the proposed 
transfer.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80 and 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. The 
Commission will approve an application for the transfer of a license if 
the Commission determines that the proposed transferee is qualified to 
hold the license, and that transfer is otherwise consistent with 
applicable provisions of law, regulations, and orders issued by the 
Commission pursuant thereto.
    Before issuance of the proposed conforming license amendments, the 
Commission will have made findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's regulations.
    As provided in 10 CFR 2.1315, unless otherwise determined by the 
Commission with regard to a specific application, the Commission has 
determined that any amendment to the license of a utilization facility 
or the license of an ISFSI that does no more than conform the license 
to reflect the transfer action involves, respectively, no significant 
hazards consideration or no genuine issue as to whether the health and 
safety of the public will be significantly affected. No contrary 
determination has been made with respect to these specific license 
amendment applications. In light of the generic determination reflected 
in 10 CFR 2.1315, no public comments with respect to significant 
hazards considerations are being solicited, notwithstanding the general 
comment procedures contained in 10 CFR 50.91.

[[Page 51981]]

    The filing of requests for hearing and petitions for leave to 
intervene, and written comments with regard to the license transfer 
applications, are discussed below.
    By October 31, 2001, any person whose interest may be affected by 
the Commission's action on the applications may request a hearing and, 
if not the applicant, may petition for leave to intervene in a hearing 
proceeding on the Commission's action. Requests for a hearing and 
petitions for leave to intervene should be filed in accordance with the 
Commission's rules of practice set forth in Subpart M, ``Public 
Notification, Availability of Documents and Records, Hearing Requests 
and Procedures for Hearings on License Transfer Applications,'' of 10 
CFR part 2. In particular, such requests and petitions must comply with 
the requirements set forth in 10 CFR 2.1306, and should address the 
considerations contained in 10 CFR 2.1308(a). Untimely requests and 
petitions may be denied, as provided in 10 CFR 2.1308(b), unless good 
cause for failure to file on time is established. In addition, an 
untimely request or petition should address the factors that the 
Commission will also consider, in reviewing untimely requests or 
petitions, set forth in 10 CFR 2.1308(b)(1)-(2).
    Requests for a hearing and petitions for leave to intervene should 
be served upon David Lewis, Esq., counsel for VEPCO and Dominion 
Generation at Shaw Pittman, 2300 N Street, NW., Washington, DC 20037, 
Telephone 202-663-8474, fax 202-663-8007, e-mail 
[email protected]; the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555 (e-mail address for filings 
regarding license transfer cases only: [email protected]); and the 
Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications 
Staff, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.1313.
    The Commission will issue a notice or order granting or denying a 
hearing request or intervention petition, designating the issues for 
any hearing that will be held and designating the Presiding Officer. A 
notice granting a hearing will be published in the Federal Register and 
served on the parties to the hearing.
    As an alternative to requests for hearing and petitions to 
intervene, by November 13, 2001, persons may submit written comments 
regarding the license transfer applications, as provided for in 10 CFR 
2.1305. The Commission will consider and, if appropriate, respond to 
these comments, but such comments will not otherwise constitute part of 
the decisional record. Comments should be submitted to the Secretary, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, 
Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, and should cite the 
publication date and page number of this Federal Register notice.
    For further details with respect to this action, see the 
applications dated June 7, 2001, and July 2, 2001, available for public 
inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, located at One 
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 
Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible electronically 
from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management Systems (ADAMS) 
Public Electronic Reading Room on the internet at the NRC Web site, 
http://www.nrc.gov/ADAMS/index.html. If you do not have access to ADAMS 
or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, 
contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-
397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by email to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 4th day of October 2001.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Stephen R. Monarque,
Project Manager, Project Directorate II, Section 1, Division of 
Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-25566 Filed 10-10-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P