[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 187 (Thursday, September 25, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55549-55550]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-22529]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-263]


In the Matter of: Nuclear Management Company, LLC; Northern 
States Power Company; (Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant); Renewed 
Facility Operating License No. DPR-22; Order Approving Transfer of 
License and Conforming Amendment

I.

    Northern States Power Company, a Minnesota corporation (NSPM) and 
Nuclear Management Company, LLC (NMC) are holders of Renewed Facility 
Operating License No. DPR-22, which authorizes the possession, use, and 
operation of Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant (Monticello). NSPM is 
authorized to possess, and NMC is authorized to use and operate 
Monticello. The facility is located at the licensees' site in Wright 
County, Minnesota.

II.

    By letter dated April 16, 2008, as supplemented by letter dated 
August 6, 2008, NSPM and NMC requested approval for NSPM to acquire 
from NMC the operating authority of the facility following approval of 
the proposed license transfer. Subsequently, NSPM will be responsible 
for the operation and maintenance of MNGP. NMC will be integrated into 
the current NSPM organization, which would be the sole entity holding 
both the ownership and operating authority of MNGP.
    The applicants also requested approval of a conforming license 
amendment that would replace references to NMC in the license with 
references to NSPM to reflect the transfer of operating authority under 
the applicable conditions and authorizations included in the Monticello 
license. The applicants proposed no physical changes to the facility or 
operational changes. After completion of the proposed transfer, NSPM 
would become the operator, as well as continue to be the owner of the 
facility.
    Approval of the transfer of the licensed operating authority 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 June 5, 2008 (73 FR 
32057). No comments and no petitions to intervene 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 Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) staff has determined that NSPM is qualified to 
continue to hold the ownership interests in the facility, and is 
qualified to acquire and hold the operating authority previously held 
by NMC, and that the transfer of the operating interests in the 
facility to NSPM 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 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 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

[[Page 55550]]

Commission's regulations and all applicable requirements have been 
satisfied.
    The findings set forth above are supported by the NRC staff's 
safety evaluation dated the same day as this Order.

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 operating authority of the 
license, as described herein, from NMC to NSPM is approved.
    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 NMC and NSPM shall inform the Director 
of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, in writing, of the date of 
closing of the transfer of NMC's operating interests in Monticello 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 
issuance, 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 April 16, 2008, the supplement dated August 6, 2008, 
and the safety evaluation dated the same day as this Order, which are 
available for 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 15th day of September, 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Eric J. Leeds,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E8-22529 Filed 9-24-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P