[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 212 (Friday, November 2, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62274-62275]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-21615]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-458; License No. NPF-47]
In the Matter of: Entergy Gulf States, Inc., Entergy Operations,
Inc. (River Bend Station, Unit 1); Order Approving Transfer of Facility
Operating License and Conforming Amendment
I.
Entergy Gulf States, Inc. (EGS) and Entergy Operations, Inc. (EOI)
are the holders of Facility Operating License NPF-47, issued by the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), part 50,
``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities.'' The
license authorizes the operation of River Bend Station, Unit 1 (RBS or
facility), in accordance with terms and conditions specified therein.
The facility is located in St. Francisville, West Feliciana Parish,
Louisiana. The license authorizes EGS to possess the facility with
respect to EGS's ownership of RBS, and EOI to use and operate the
facility.
II.
By letter dated May 29, 2007, as supplemented by letters dated
August 30 and September 19, 2007, EOI, acting on behalf of EGS and
itself, submitted an application to the NRC requesting, pursuant to 10
CFR 50.80, approval of the direct transfer of the license for RBS from
EGS to Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, LLC (EGS-LA). EOI also requested,
pursuant to 10 CFR 50.90, approval of a conforming license amendment to
the RBS, Unit 1, Operating License (NPF-47) to reflect the transfer.
The transfer is associated with the planned restructuring of EGS under
which ownership of RBS will be transferred from EGS, a Texas
corporation, to EGS-LA, Louisiana limited liability company. EOI will
continue to operate RBS, and thus there is no transfer of operating
authority under the license proposed in the application.
Notice of the requests for approval and an opportunity for a
hearing was published in the Federal Register on July 9, 2007 (72 FR
37266). No comments or hearing requests were received.
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 EGS-LA is qualified to hold the license for RBS to the
extent now held by EGS, and that the transfer of the license to EGS-LA
described in the application is otherwise consistent with applicable
provisions of law, regulations, and orders issued by the Commission
pursuant thereto, 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 application, 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
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 a safety evaluation
dated October 26, 2007.
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 transfer of the license
to EGS-LA, as described herein is approved, subject to the following
conditions:
(1) At the time of the closing of the transfer of ownership of and
the license for RBS from EGS to EGS-LA, the RBS decommissioning trust
agreement(s) shall be amended to reflect EGS-LA as the owner of all the
decommissioning trust funds accumulated as of the date of the closing.
(2) Prior to completion of the transfer of ownership of and the
transfer for RBS, EGS-LA 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 licensees
under 10 CFR part 140 of the Commission's regulations.
It is further ordered that, consistent with 10 CFR 2.1315(b), a
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 license transfer, is approved. The amendment shall
be issued and made effective at the time the proposed license transfer
is completed.
It is further ordered that EOI shall inform the Director of the
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation in writing of the date of closing
of the transfer no later than 5 business days prior to such action.
Should the transfer of the license not be completed by October 25,
2008, 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.
[[Page 62275]]
For further details with respect to this action, see the
application dated May 29, 2007, the supplemental letters dated August
30 and September 19, 2007, and the safety evaluation dated October 26,
2007, which are available for public inspection at the Commission's
Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, and accessible
electronically through the Agencywide Documents Access and Management
System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet on the
NRC's 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
document 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 26th day of October, 2007.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
J.E. Dyer,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E7-21615 Filed 11-1-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P