[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 72 (Monday, April 16, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19057-19058]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-7210]


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

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-255; Renewed License No. DPR-20]


In the Matter of Consumers Energy Company Nuclear Management 
Company (Palisades Nuclear Plant); Order Approving Transfer of License 
and Conforming Amendment

I.

    Consumers Energy Company (Consumers) and Nuclear Management 
Company, LLC (NMC) are holders of Renewed Facility Operating License 
No. DPR-20, which authorizes the possession, use, and operation of 
Palisades Nuclear Plant (Palisades). Consumers is authorized to possess 
and use, and NMC is authorized to possess, use, and operate Palisades. 
The facility is located at the licensee's site in Van Buren County, 
Michigan.

II.

    By letter dated August 31, 2006, Consumers, NMC, Entergy Nuclear 
Palisades, LLC (ENP), and Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (ENO) 
(collectively, ``the applicants'') submitted an application to the U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) requesting approval 
of the direct transfer of Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-20 
from Palisades to ENP. The application is in connection with the sale 
of Consumer's ownership interest (100 percent) in Palisades to ENP, and 
the related transfer of operating authority for the facility from NMC 
to ENO.
    Supplemental information was provided by letters dated December 15, 
2006, and March 1 and April 4, 2007 (hereinafter, the August 31 
application and December 15, 2006, and March 1 and April 4, 2007, 
supplemental information will be referred to collectively as the 
``application''). The applicants also requested approval of a 
conforming license amendment that would replace references to Consumers 
and NMC in the license with references to ENP and ENO to reflect the 
transfer of ownership, and would revise paragraph 1.B in the license to 
be consistent with paragraph 2 regarding the disposition of the 
Provisional Operating License. No physical changes to the facilities or 
operational changes were proposed in the application. After completion 
of the proposed transfer, ENP and ENO would be the owner and operator, 
respectfully, of the facility.
    Approval of the transfer of the facility operating license and 
conforming license amendment is requested by the applicants pursuant to 
Sections 50.80 and 50.90 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR). Notice of the request for approval and opportunity for a 
hearing were published in the Federal Register on November 16, 2006 (71 
FR 66805). No comments were received. A petition for leave to intervene 
pursuant to 10 CFR 2.309 was received on December 5, 2006, from the Van 
Buren County, Covert Township, Covert Public Schools, Van Buren County 
Intermediate School District, Van Buren County District Library, Lake 
Michigan College, and South Haven Hospitals. A second petition for 
leave to intervene pursuant to 10 CFR 2.309 was received on December 6, 
2006, from Michigan Environmental Council and Public Interest Research 
Group. The petitions are under consideration by the Commission.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80, 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, and relying upon the representations 
and agreements contained in the application, the NRC staff has 
determined that ENP is qualified to hold the ownership interests in the 
facility previously held by Consumers, and ENO is qualified to hold the 
operating authority under the license, and that the transfer of 
ownership interests and the operating interests in the facility to ENP 
and ENO, respectively, described in the application is otherwise 
consistent with applicable provisions of law, regulations, and orders 
issued by the Commission, subject to the conditions set forth below. 
The NRC staff has further found that the application for the proposed 
license amendment complies with the standards and requirements of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's 
rules and regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; the facility will 
operate in conformity with the applications, the provisions of the Act, 
and the rules and regulations of the Commission; there is reasonable 
assurance that the activities authorized by the proposed license 
amendment can be conducted without endangering the health and safety of 
the public and that such activities will be conducted in compliance 
with the Commission's regulations; the issuance of the proposed license 
amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to 
the health and safety of the public; and the issuance of the proposed 
amendment will be in accordance with 10 CFR part 51 of the Commission's 
regulations and all applicable requirements have been satisfied.
    The findings set forth above are supported by NRC safety 
evaluations dated April 6, 2007.

III.

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, and 184 of the Act, 
42 U.S.C. Sections 2201(b), 2201(i), and 2234; and 10 CFR 50.80, it is 
hereby ordered that the transfer of the license, as described herein, 
to ENP and ENO is approved, subject to the following condition:

    Prior to completion of the transfer of the license, Entergy 
shall provide the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation satisfactory documentary evidence that it has obtained 
the appropriate amount of insurance required of a licensee under 10 
CFR part 140 of the Commission's regulations.

    It is further ordered that, consistent with 10 CFR 2.1315(b), the 
license amendment that makes changes, as indicated in Enclosure 2 to 
the cover letter forwarding this Order, to conform the license to 
reflect the subject direct license transfer is approved. The amendment 
shall be issued and made effective at the time the proposed direct 
license transfer is completed.
    It is further ordered that ENP and ENO shall inform the Director of 
the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation in writing of the date of 
closing of the transfer of the Consumers and NMC interests in 
Palisades, at least 1 business day prior to closing. Should the 
transfer of the license not be completed within one year of this 
Order's date of issue, this Order shall become null and void, provided; 
however, that upon written application and for 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 initial 
application dated August 31, 2006, as supplemented by letters dated 
December 15, 2006, and March 1 and April 4, 2007, and the non-
proprietary safety evaluation dated April 6, 2007, which are available 
for

[[Page 19058]]

public inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), 
located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21 
(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 at [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of April 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
J.E. Dyer,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E7-7210 Filed 4-13-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P