[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 6, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21013-21014]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10456]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-244; NRC-2009-0192]


R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant, LLC; R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power 
Plant Notice of Consideration of Approval of Application Regarding 
Proposed Corporate Restructuring and of Indirect Transfer of Licenses 
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80 and Opportunity for a Hearing

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) is 
considering the issuance of an Order under 10 CFR 50.80 approving the 
indirect transfer of Renewed Facility Operating License, No. DPR-18, 
for the R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant, currently held by R.E. Ginna 
Nuclear Power Plant, LLC, as owner and licensed operator. R.E. Ginna 
Nuclear Power Plant, LLC, is owned by Constellation Nuclear Power 
Plants, Inc., which is owned by Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, LLC 
(CENG). CENG is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Constellation Energy 
Group, Inc. (CEG).
    According to an application dated January 22, 2009, filed by CENG, 
on behalf of R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant, LLC, and EDF Development, 
Inc. (EDF Development), as supplemented by letters dated February 26 
and April 8, 2009, the applicants seek approval pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.80 of the indirect transfer of control of the subject license held 
by R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant, LLC, to the extent such would result 
from certain proposed corporate restructuring actions in connection 
with a planned investment by EDF Development whereby it would acquire a 
49.99% ownership interest in CENG. EDF Development is a U.S. 
corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware and a 
wholly-owned subsidiary of E.D.F. International S.A., a public limited 
company organized under the laws of France, which is in turn a wholly-
owned subsidiary of [Eacute]lectricit[eacute] de France S.A., a French 
limited company.
    Following the proposed transaction, CEG will hold a 50.01% 
ownership interest in CENG through two new intermediate parent 
companies which will be formed for non-operational purposes. In 
addition, the intermediate holding company, Constellation Nuclear Power 
Plants, Inc., which exists between CENG and R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power 
Plant, LLC, will be converted from a corporation to a limited liability 
company. No physical changes to the facilities or operational changes 
are being proposed in the application.
    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. The Commission will approve an application for the indirect 
transfer of a license, if the Commission determines that the proposed 
underlying transaction, i.e., the proposed corporate restructuring, 
will not affect the qualifications of the licensee to hold the license, 
and that the transfer is otherwise consistent with applicable 
provisions of law, regulations, and Orders issued by the Commission 
pursuant thereto.
    The filing of requests for hearing and petitions for leave to 
intervene, and written comments with regard to the license transfer 
application, are discussed below.
    Within 20 days from the date of publication of this notice, any 
person(s) whose interest may be affected by the Commission's action on 
the application may request a hearing and intervention through the NRC 
E-filing system. Requests for a hearing and petitions for leave to 
intervene should be filed in accordance with the Commission's rules of 
practice set forth in Subpart C ``Rules of General Applicability: 
Hearing Requests, Petitions to Intervene, Availability of Documents, 
Selection of Specific Hearing Procedures, Presiding Officer Powers, and 
General Hearing Management for NRC Adjudicatory Hearings,'' of 10 CFR 
Part 2. In particular, such requests and petitions must comply with the 
requirements set forth in 10 CFR 2.309. Untimely requests and petitions 
may be denied, as provided in 10 CFR 2.309(c)(1), unless good cause for 
failure to file on time is established. In addition, an untimely 
request or petition should address the factors that the Commission will 
also consider, in reviewing untimely requests or petitions, set forth 
in 10 CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i)-(viii).
    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a 
request for hearing, a petition for leave to intervene, any motion or 
other document filed in the proceeding prior to the submission of a 
request for hearing or petition to intervene, and documents filed by 
interested governmental entities participating under 10 CFR 2.315(c), 
must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule, which the NRC 
promulgated in August 2007 (72 FR 49139). The E-Filing process requires 
participants to submit and serve documents over the Internet, or in 
some cases to mail copies on electronic storage media. Participants

[[Page 21014]]

may not submit paper copies of their filings unless they seek an 
exemption in accordance with the procedures described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 
ten (10) days prior to the filing deadline, the petitioner/requestor 
should contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by calling (301) 415-1677, to request (1) a 
digital ID certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or 
representative) to digitally sign documents and access the E-Submittal 
server for any proceeding in which it is participating; and/or (2) 
creation of an electronic docket for the proceeding (even in instances 
in which the petitioner/requestor (or its counsel or representative) 
already holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Each petitioner/
requestor will need to download the Workplace Forms ViewerTM 
to access the Electronic Information Exchange (EIE), a component of the 
E-Filing system. The Workplace Forms ViewerTM is free and is 
available at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/install-viewer.html. Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is 
available on NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/apply-certificates.html.
    Once a petitioner/requestor has obtained a digital ID certificate, 
had a docket created, and downloaded the EIE viewer, it can then submit 
a request for hearing or petition for leave to intervene. Submissions 
should be in Portable Document Format (PDF) in accordance with NRC 
guidance available on the NRC public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. A filing is considered complete at the 
time the filer submits its documents through EIE. To be timely, an 
electronic filing must be submitted to the EIE system no later than 
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon receipt of a 
transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document and sends 
the submitter an e-mail notice confirming receipt of the document. The 
EIE system also distributes an e-mail notice that provides access to 
the document to the NRC Office of the General Counsel and any others 
who have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to 
participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the 
documents on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and 
other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for 
and receive a digital ID certificate before a hearing request/petition 
to intervene is filed so that they can obtain access to the document 
via the E-Filing system.
    A person filing electronically may seek assistance through the 
``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html or by calling the NRC technical help line, 
which is available between 8:30 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday 
through Friday, excluding government holidays. The electronic filing 
Help Desk can be contacted by telephone at 1-866-672-7640 or by e-mail 
at [email protected].
    Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing 
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper 
format. Such filings must be submitted by: (1) First class mail 
addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: 
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or 
expedited delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth 
Floor, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 
20852, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Participants 
filing a document in this manner are responsible for serving the 
document on all other participants. Filing is considered complete by 
first-class mail as of the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, 
express mail, or expedited delivery service upon depositing the 
document with the provider of the service.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in 
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at 
http://ehd.nrc.gov/EHD_Proceeding/home.asp, unless excluded pursuant 
to an order of the Commission, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, or 
a Presiding Officer. Participants are requested not to include personal 
privacy information, such as social security numbers, home addresses, 
or home phone numbers in their filings. With respect to copyrighted 
works, except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the 
adjudicatory filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, 
participants are requested not to include copyrighted materials in 
their submissions.
    The Commission will issue a notice or order granting or denying a 
hearing request or intervention petition, designating the issues for 
any hearing that will be held and designating the Presiding Officer. A 
notice granting a hearing will be published in the Federal Register and 
served on the parties to the hearing.
    Within 30 days from the date of publication of this notice, persons 
may submit written comments regarding the license transfer application, 
as provided for in 10 CFR 2.1305. The Commission will consider and, if 
appropriate, respond to these comments, but such comments will not 
otherwise constitute part of the decisional record. Comments are not 
subject to the E-filing rule and should be submitted to the Secretary, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, 
Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, and should cite the 
publication date and page number of this Federal Register notice. 
Comments may also be sent by e-mail to [email protected].
    For further details with respect to this indirect license transfer 
application, see the application dated January 22, 2009, available for 
public inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), 
located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available 
records will be accessible electronically from the Agency wide 
Documents Access and Management System's (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, or 
301-415-4737 or by e-mail to [email protected].
    Attorneys for applicants: Daniel F. Stenger, Hogan & Hartson LLP, 
555 Thirteenth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20004, tel: 202.637.5691, e-
mail: [email protected] (counsel for CENG); and John E. Matthews, 
Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius, 1111 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 
20004, tel. 202.739.5524, e-mail: [email protected] (counsel 
for EDF Development).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 28th day of April 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Douglas V. Pickett,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch I-1, Division of 
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E9-10456 Filed 5-5-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P