[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 130 (Thursday, July 9, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32975-32976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-16244]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-456 AND 50-457; NRC-2009-0289]


Exelon Generation Company, LLC, Braidwood Station, Units 1 and 2; 
Notice of Consideration of Approval of an Application for Indirect 
License Transfer Resulting From the Proposed Merger Between Exelon 
Corporation and NRG Energy, Inc. and Opportunity for a Hearing

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is 
considering the issuance of an order under Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Section 50.80 approving the indirect 
transfer of Facility Operating Licenses, which are numbered NPF-72 and 
NPF-77 for Braidwood Station, Units 1 and 2 (Braidwood), including the 
independent spent fuel storage installation, currently held by Exelon 
Generation Company, LLC (EGC), as owner and licensed operator of 
Braidwood. EGC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Exelon Corporation 
(Exelon).
    According to an application for approval filed by Exelon, acting on 
behalf of itself, Exelon Xchange Corporation, Exelon Ventures Company, 
LLC, and EGC (together, the applicants), Exelon is considering a merger 
with NRG Energy Inc. (NRG Energy), with NRG Energy as the surviving 
entity. Exelon is the ultimate parent company of EGC and Exelon's 
proposed merger with NRG Energy would result in NRG Energy becoming the 
ultimate parent company of EGC and thus result in the indirect transfer 
of control of the Braidwood licenses to NRG Energy. The applicants 
request that the NRC consent to this indirect transfer of control of 
the Braidwood licenses.
    No physical changes to the Braidwood facility 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 licenses, 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 
transaction effecting the indirect transfer (here, the proposed merger) 
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 this instance, Exelon asserts that the proposed 
indirect transfer will not result in any change in the licensee's 
financial qualifications or operating organization.
    The Commission is reviewing the application and has not made any 
decision regarding the outcome of its review.
    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 all adjudicatory 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 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

[[Page 32976]]

Us'' link located on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html or by calling the NRC electronic filing Help Desk, 
which is available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday 
through Friday, excluding government holidays. The toll-free help line 
number is 1-866-672-7640. A person filing electronically may also seek 
assistance by sending an e-mail to the NRC electronic filing Help Desk 
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, unless an NRC regulation or 
other law requires submission of such information. 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 29, 2009, as 
supplemented by letter dated March 18, 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 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, or 301-415-4737 or by 
e-mail to [email protected].
    Attorney for licensee: Mr. Bradley J. Fewell, Associate General 
Counsel, Exelon Nuclear, 4300 Winfield Road, Warrenville, IL 60555.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day of July 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Marshall J. David,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch III-2, Division of 
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E9-16244 Filed 7-8-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P