[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 149 (Friday, August 1, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45083-45085]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-17677]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-293]
In the Matter of: Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; Entergy
Nuclear Generation Company (Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station); Order
Approving Indirect Transfer of Facility Operating License
I
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (ENO) and Entergy Nuclear
Generation
[[Page 45084]]
Company (Entergy Nuclear) are co-holders of the Facility Operating
License, No. DPR-35, which authorizes the possession, use, and
operation of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (Pilgrim). Pilgrim is a
boiling water nuclear reactor that is owned by Entergy Nuclear and
operated by ENO. The facility is located on the western shore of Cape
Cod in the town of Plymouth on the Entergy Nuclear site in Plymouth
County, Massachusetts.
II
By application dated July 30, 2007, as supplemented by letters
dated October 31, and December 5, 2007, and January 24, March 17, April
22, and May 2, 2008, ENO, acting on behalf of itself and Entergy
Nuclear, requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC,
the Commission), pursuant to Section 50.80 of Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), consent to the proposed indirect transfer
of control of the Pilgrim license.
Entergy Nuclear is currently a direct wholly owned subsidiary of
Entergy Nuclear Holding Company 1. Seventy-five percent of
Entergy Nuclear Holding Company 1 is directly owned by Entergy
Corporation while the remaining 25 percent is directly owned by Entergy
Global, LLC. Entergy Global, LLC is a direct wholly owned subsidiary of
Entergy International Holdings LTD which, in turn, is a direct wholly
owned subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Therefore, under the current
corporate structure, Entergy Corporation is the indirect owner of 100
percent of Entergy Nuclear.
Under the proposed corporate restructuring, a new holding company,
Enexus Energy Corporation (Enexus), will be created. Initially, the
shareholders of Entergy Corporation will separately own the shares of
Enexus and, as such, Enexus will be owned by the public. Entergy
Nuclear Holding Company 1 will become a direct wholly owned
subsidiary of Enexus and both Entergy Global, LLC and Entergy
International Holdings LTD will be eliminated. Accordingly, following
the corporate restructuring, Enexus will acquire indirect control of
100 percent of Entergy Nuclear.
ENO, the operator of the Pilgrim facility, is currently a direct
wholly owned subsidiary of Entergy Nuclear Holding Company 2
which, in turn, is a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Entergy
Corporation. Therefore, Entergy Corporation is currently the indirect
owner of 100 percent of ENO.
Under the proposed corporate restructuring, Entergy Nuclear Holding
Company 2 will be eliminated and ENO will become a direct
subsidiary of a new parent company called EquaGen, LLC. EquaGen, LLC
will be owned in equal shares by two new intermediate holding companies
as follows. Entergy EquaGen, Inc. is being created as a direct
subsidiary of Entergy Corporation and will own 50 percent of EquaGen,
LLC. Similarly, Enexus EquaGen, LLC is being created as a direct
subsidiary of Enexus and will also own 50 percent of EquaGen, LLC.
Accordingly, following the corporate restructuring, Entergy Corporation
and Enexus will each have indirect control of 50 percent of ENO.
Finally, ENO will be converted from a corporation to a limited
liability company and its name will be changed from Entergy Nuclear
Operations, Inc. to EquaGen Nuclear, LLC. Under Delaware law, EquaGen
Nuclear, LLC will assume all of the rights and responsibilities of ENO,
and it will be the same company (legal entity) both before and after
the conversion and name change. Also, Entergy Nuclear will undergo a
name change to become Enexus Nuclear Generation Company. The staff
understands that ENO will request an administrative license amendment
to conform the Pilgrim license in the near future.
Notice of the request for approval and an opportunity for a hearing
was published in the Federal Register on January 16, 2008 (73 FR 2951).
By petition dated February 5, 2008, Locals 369 and 590, Utility Workers
Union of America (UWUA), American Federation of Labor-Congress of
Industrial Organization, representing plant workers at the Pilgrim
facility, responded to the Federal Register notice and requested a
hearing and leave to intervene as a party in the Pilgrim proceeding. On
June 12, 2008, Local 369 filed a notice of withdrawal of its petition
to intervene. The notice of withdrawal did not apply to Local 590.
The request for a hearing is currently pending before the
Commission. Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.1316, during the pendency of a
hearing, the staff is expected to promptly proceed with the approval or
denial of license transfer requests consistent with the staff's
findings in its safety evaluation. Notice of the staff's action shall
be promptly transmitted to the presiding officer and parties to the
proceeding. Commission action on the pending hearing requests is being
handled independently of this action.
Pursuant to 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 as
supplemented and other information before the Commission, and relying
upon the representations and agreements in the application as
supplemented, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed indirect
transfer of control of the license held by Entergy Nuclear to Enexus,
as described herein, will not affect the qualifications of Entergy
Nuclear as holder of the Pilgrim license. The indirect transfer of
control of the license is otherwise consistent with applicable
provisions of law, regulations, and orders issued by the NRC.
Furthermore, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed corporate
restructuring involving new intermediate and ultimate parent companies
over ENO, as described herein, will not affect the qualifications of
ENO as holder of the Pilgrim license. The indirect transfer of control
of the license as held by ENO, to the extent affected by the proposed
restructuring, is otherwise consistent with applicable provisions of
law, regulations, and orders issued by the Commission.
The NRC staff concludes that the conversion of Entergy Nuclear
Operations, Inc. to EquaGen Nuclear, LLC would not constitute a direct
transfer of the licenses to the extent held by ENO. Therefore, no
consent to the proposed conversion is necessary.
The findings set forth above are supported by the NRC's safety
evaluation dated July 28, 2008.
III
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, 161o, and 184 of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2201(b), 2201(i),
2201(o), and 2234; and 10 CFR 50.80, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the
application regarding the indirect license transfer discussed above
related to the proposed corporate restructuring and establishment of
Enexus is approved, subject to the following conditions:
1. Entergy Nuclear shall enter into the $700 million Support
Agreement with Enexus Energy Corporation as described in the
application, no later than the time the proposed transactions and
indirect license transfer occurs. Entergy Nuclear shall take no action
to cause Enexus Energy Corporation, or its successors and assigns, to
void, cancel, or modify the Support Agreement or cause it to fail to
perform, or impair its performance under the Support Agreement, without
prior written consent of the NRC. The Support Agreement may not be
amended or modified without 30 days prior written notice to the
Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
[[Page 45085]]
or his designee. An executed copy of the Support Agreement shall be
submitted to the NRC no later than 30 days after the completion of the
proposed transactions and the indirect license transfer. Entergy
Nuclear shall inform the NRC in writing anytime it draws upon the
Support Agreement.
2. The ten separate support guarantees from various Entergy
subsidiaries, which total $315 million, including the support guarantee
relating to Pilgrim, may be revoked when, and conditioned upon,
implementation of the new $700 million Support Agreement at the time
the proposed restructuring and indirect license transfer are completed.
3. Should the proposed corporate restructuring and establishment of
Enexus not be completed within one year from the date of this Order,
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 July 30, 2007, as supplemented by letters dated October 31, and
December 5, 2007, and January 24, March 17, April 22, and May 2, 2008,
and the NRC's safety evaluation dated July 28, 2008, 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 28th day of July 2008.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Timothy J. McGinty,
Acting Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E8-17677 Filed 7-31-08; 8:45 am]
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