[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 187 (Thursday, September 25, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55550-55551]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-22530]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-282, 50-306, 72-10]


In the Matter of: Nuclear Management Company, LLC; License Nos 
DPR-42, DPR-60, SNM-2506; Northern States Power Company; (Prairie 
Island Nuclear Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2) 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 Facility Operating 
License No. DPR-42 and DPR-60, which authorize the possession, use, and 
operation of Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant (Prairie Island), 
Units 1 and 2, and Materials License SNM-2506, which authorizes the 
possession, use, and operation of the Prairie Island Independent Spent 
Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). NSPM is authorized to possess, and 
NMC is authorized to use and operate Prairie Island and the Prairie 
Island ISFSI. The facilities are located at the licensees' site in 
Goodhue 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 the 
operating authority of the facilities from NMC following approval of 
the proposed license transfer. Subsequently, NSPM will be responsible 
for the operation and maintenance of Prairie Island and the Prairie 
Island ISFSI. NMC will be integrated into the current NSPM 
organization, which would be the sole entity holding both the ownership 
and operating authority of the facilities.
    The applicants also requested approval of conforming license 
amendments that would replace references to NMC in the licenses with 
references to NSPM to reflect the transfer of operating authority under 
the applicable conditions and authorizations included in the Prairie 
Island licenses. The applicants proposed no physical changes to the 
facilities or operational changes. After completion of the proposed 
transfer, NSPM would become the operator, as well as continue to be the 
owner of the facilities.
    Approval of the transfer of the licensed operating authority and 
conforming license amendments are 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 32055). No comments and no petitions to intervene 
were received.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80 and 10 CFR 72.50, 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 NSPM is qualified to continue to hold 
the ownership interests in the facilities, and is qualified to acquire 
and hold the operating authority previously held by NMC, and that the 
transfer of the operating interests in the facilities 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 applications for the proposed license amendments comply 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 facilities 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 amendments 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 amendments 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 amendments 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 staff's safety 
evaluation dated the same day as this Order.

[[Page 55551]]

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 and 10 
CFR 72.50, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the transfer of the operating 
authority of the licenses, as described herein, from NMC to NSPM is 
approved.
    It is further ordered that, consistent with 10 CFR 2.1315(b), the 
license amendments that make changes, as indicated in Enclosure 2 to 
the cover letter forwarding this Order, to conform the licenses to 
reflect the subject direct license transfer are approved. The 
amendments shall be issued and made effective at the time the proposed 
direct license transfers are 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 Prairie Island 
and the Prairie Island ISFSI at least 1 business day prior to closing. 
Should the transfer of the licenses 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 date 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. E8-22530 Filed 9-24-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P