[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]
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