[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 87 (Thursday, May 7, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21413-21414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10637]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-317 and 50-318; Docket No. 72-8; NRC-2009-0194]
Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Inc., Calvert Cliffs Nuclear
Power Plant, Unit Nos. 1 and 2; Calvert Cliffs Independent Spent Fuel
Storage Installation; Notice of Consideration of Approval of
Application Regarding Proposed Restructuring and of Direct Transfer of
Licenses Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80 and 10 CFR 72.50, and of Approval of
Conforming License Amendments Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.90 and 10 CFR 72.56
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 and 10 CFR
72.50 approving the indirect transfer as well as the direct transfer of
the Renewed Facility Operating Licenses, Nos. DPR-53 and DPR-69, for
the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Unit Nos. 1 and 2,
respectively, and Material License No. SNM-2505 for the Calvert Cliffs
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), currently held by
Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Inc. (CCNPPI) as owner and licensed
operator. CCNPPI 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 CCNPPI, 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 and 10 CFR 72.56 of
the indirect transfer of control of the subject licenses held by CCNPPI
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.
Furthermore, the application seeks approval of the proposed direct
transfer of licenses held by CCNPPI to a new legal entity, Calvert
Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, LLC, and approval of conforming license
amendments.
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, an intermediate holding company will exist between CENG and
CCNPP, LLC.
No physical changes to the facilities or operational changes are
being proposed in the application. The proposed conforming license
amendment would replace references to Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power
Plants, Inc. in the license with references to Calvert Cliffs Nuclear
Power Plant, LLC, to reflect the proposed direct transfer of the
licenses.
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 direct
transfer of a license, if the Commission determines that the proposed
transferee is qualified 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 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.
In connection with the direct license transfers, before issuance of
the proposed conforming license amendment, the Commission will have
made findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended
(the Act), and the Commission's regulations.
As provided in 10 CFR 2.1315, unless otherwise determined by the
Commission with regard to a specific application, the Commission has
determined that any amendment to the license of a utilization facility
or to the license of an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation
which does no more than conform the license to reflect the transfer
action involves no significant hazards consideration and no genuine
issue as to whether the health and safety of the public will be
significantly affected. No contrary determination has been made with
respect to this specific license amendment application. In light of the
generic determination reflected in 10 CFR 2.1315, no public comments
with respect to significant hazards considerations are being solicited,
notwithstanding the general comment procedures contained in 10 CFR
50.91.
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 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
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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 Viewer\TM\ to access the Electronic Information
Exchange (EIE), a component of the E-Filing system. The Workplace Forms
Viewer\TM\ 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 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. E9-10637 Filed 5-6-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P