[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 14 (Monday, January 23, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 3547]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-710]



[[Page 3547]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-498 and 50-499]
[License Nos. NPF-76 and NPF-80]


In the Matter of Texas Genco, LP, STP Nuclear Operating Company; 
South Texas Project, Units 1 and 2; Order Approving Application 
Regarding Proposed Indirect Acquisition of Texas Genco, LP By NRG 
Energy, Inc.

    STP Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC), Texas Genco, LP (Texas 
Genco), the City Public Service Board of San Antonio (CPS), and the 
City of Austin, Texas (COA) are co-holders of Facility Operating 
Licenses (which are numbered NPF-76 and NPF-80), that authorize the 
possession, use, and operation of the South Texas Project, Units 1 and 
2 (the facility or STP). STPNOC is licensed by the United States 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) to operate STP. 
Texas Genco, CPS, and COA are co-owners of the facility and licensed to 
possess STP. The facility is located in Matagorda County, Texas.
    By application dated October 14, 2005, STPNOC, acting on behalf of 
Texas Genco and NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG Energy) (together, the 
applicants), requested that the NRC, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80, consent 
to the indirect transfer of the STP licenses held by Texas Genco that 
would be effected by the indirect transfer of control of Texas Genco's 
44 percent undivided ownership interest in STP to NRG Energy. This 
action is being sought as a result of the agreement between NRG Energy 
and Texas Genco LLC, which indirectly owns 100 percent of Texas Genco, 
for NRG Energy to acquire all of the outstanding equity of Texas Genco 
LLC from the current owners of Texas Genco LLC. The current owners are 
investment fund entities affiliated with the Blackstone Group, Hellman 
& Friedman LLC, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., L.P., and Texas Pacific 
Group (Investment Funds), and certain members of the Texas Genco LLC 
management.
    In connection with the indirect transfer of control of Texas 
Genco's ownership interest in STP, indirect control over Texas Genco's 
corresponding interest in STPNOC will also be transferred. To the 
extent that the indirect transfer of control of Texas Genco's interest 
in STPNOC would constitute an indirect transfer of control of the 
licenses as held by STPNOC, NRC consent under 10 CFR 50.80 has also 
been requested.
    Notice of the requests for approval and an opportunity for a 
hearing was published in the Federal Register on November 29, 2005 (70 
FR 71561). No comments or hearing requests were received.
    Under 10 CFR 50.80(a), no license, or any right thereunder, shall 
be transferred, directly or indirectly, through transfer of control of 
the license, unless the Commission shall give its consent in writing. 
Upon review of the information in the application and other information 
before the Commission, the NRC staff has determined that the proposed 
indirect transfer of control of Texas Genco to NRG Energy will not 
affect the qualifications of Texas Genco as holder of the STP licenses, 
and that the indirect transfer of the licenses as held by Texas Genco, 
to the extent effected by the indirect transfer of control of Texas 
Genco, is otherwise consistent with the applicable provisions of law, 
regulations, and orders issued by the Commission pursuant thereto. The 
NRC staff has further determined that, to the extent the proposed 
indirect transfer of control of Texas Genco would result in an indirect 
transfer of control of the STP licenses as held by STPNOC, the proposed 
indirect transfer of control of Texas Genco will not affect the 
qualifications of STPNOC to hold the STP licenses, and such indirect 
transfer of control of the licenses as held by STPNOC is otherwise 
consistent with applicable provisions of law, regulations, and orders 
issued by the Commission pursuant thereto.
    The findings set forth above are supported by a safety evaluation 
dated January 12, 2006.
    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 transfers related to the proposed acquisition is 
approved, subject to the following condition:

    Should the indirect transfer of control of Texas Genco to NRG 
Energy not be completed by January 31, 2007, this Order shall become 
null and void, provided, however, upon written application and good 
cause shown, such date may be extended by order.

    This Order is effective upon issuance.
    For further details with respect to this Order, see the application 
dated October 14, 2005, and the safety evaluation dated January 12, 
2006, which are available for public inspection at the Commission's 
Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public 
File Area 01 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 
Maryland and accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents 
Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on 
the Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter 
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact 
the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by e-mail to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 12th day of January, 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Catherine Haney,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E6-710 Filed 1-20-06; 8:45 am]
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