[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 196 (Tuesday, October 13, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52510-52512]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-24564]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2009-0434; Docket No. 40-1162]


Notice of Application From Western Nuclear Inc., for Consent to 
Indirect Change of Control With Respect to Materials License SUA-56, 
Opportunity To Provide Comments and To Request a Hearing

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of consideration of a request from Western Nuclear Inc., 
for consent to indirect transfer of control over materials license SUA-
56 and the opportunity to request a hearing.

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DATES: A request for a hearing must be filed by November 2, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Chang, Project Manager, 
Special Projects Branch, Division of Waste Management and Environmental 
Protection, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental 
Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555. Telephone: (301) 415-7188; fax number: (301) 415-5369; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an 
application from Western Nuclear Inc., (WNI or licensee), submitted on 
July 22, 2009, requesting approval of an indirect change of control 
with respect to its 10 CFR part 40 source materials license SUA-56. 
WNI's parent company, Phelps Dodge Corporation (PDC) (currently named 
Freeport-McMoRan Corporation), was previously acquired in a reverse 
triangular merger by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc. (Freeport).
    On March 19, 2007, Freeport acquired the entire interest in PDC, 
and Freeport now owns one hundred percent (100%) of PDC. This 
transaction resulted in the indirect transfer of control of WNI and 
license SUA-56 from PDC to Freeport. WNI is requesting that the NRC 
consent to this indirect change of control.
    WNI's application states that, as a result of the 2007 transaction, 
there has been no change to the licensee's operations, and that its key 
operating personnel and licensed activities have remained the same. WNI 
has, and will continue to be, the holder of license SUA-56 after the 
approval of the indirect change of control. WNI will remain technically 
and financially qualified as the licensee and will continue to fulfill 
all responsibilities as the licensee.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 40.46, no source material license shall be 
transferred, assigned, or in any manner disposed of, either voluntarily 
or involuntarily, directly or indirectly, through transfer of control 
of the license to any person, unless the Commission, after securing 
full information, finds that the transfer is in accordance with the 
provisions of the Atomic Energy Act, and gives its consent in writing. 
An Environmental Assessment (EA) will not be performed for this 
proposed action because it falls within a class of actions 
categorically excluded from the requirement to perform an EA pursuant 
to 10 CFR 51.22(c)(21).
    The NRC staff plans to approve the July 22, 2009, application by 
issuing the necessary order, along with a supporting safety evaluation 
report.

[[Page 52511]]

II. Opportunity to Request a Hearing

    Any person whose interest may be affected if the July 22, 2009, 
application is approved, and who desires to participate as a party in 
an NRC adjudicatory hearing, must file a request for a hearing. The 
hearing request must include a specification of the contentions which 
the person seeks to have litigated in the hearing, and must be filed in 
accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule, which the NRC promulgated in 
August 2007, 72 FR 49139, (August 28, 2007). The E-Filing rule 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 a waiver 
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 
must contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by calling (301) 415-1677, to request (1) A 
digital identification (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 Standard 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 using the agency's adjudicatory e-
filing system 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 Meta-System Help Desk, which is 
available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through 
Friday, excluding government holidays. The Meta-System 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 a motion, 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.
    Non-timely requests and/or petitions and contentions will not be 
entertained absent a determination by the Commission, the presiding 
officer, or the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that the petition 
and/or request should be granted and/or the contentions should be 
admitted based on a balancing of the factors specified in 10 CFR 
2.309(c)(1)(i)-(viii). To be timely, filings must be submitted no later 
than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on the due date.
    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 social 
security numbers in their filings. Copyrighted works, except for 
limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory filings and 
would constitute a Fair Use application, should not be included in the 
submission.
    The formal requirements for documents contained in 10 CFR 2.304(c)-
(e) must be met. If the NRC grants an electronic document exemption in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g)(3), then the requirements for paper 
documents, set forth in 10 CFR 2.304(b) must be met.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(b), a request for a hearing must be 
filed by November 2, 2009.
    In addition to meeting other applicable requirements of 10 CFR 
2.309, a request for a hearing filed by a person other than an 
applicant must state:
    1. The name, address, and telephone number of the requestor;
    2. The nature of the requestor's right under the Act to be made a 
party to the proceeding;
    3. The nature and extent of the requestor's property, financial or 
other interest in the proceeding;
    4. The possible effect of any decision or order that may be issued 
in the proceeding on the requestor's interest; and
    5. The circumstances establishing that the request for a hearing is 
timely in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(b).
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f)(1), a request for hearing or 
petitions for leave to intervene must set forth with particularity the 
contentions sought to be raised. For each contention, the request or 
petition must:
    1. Provide a specific statement of the issue of law or fact to be 
raised or controverted;
    2. Provide a brief explanation of the basis for the contention;
    3. Demonstrate that the issue raised in the contention is within 
the scope of the proceeding;
    4. Demonstrate that the issue raised in the contention is material 
to the findings that the NRC must make to

[[Page 52512]]

support the action that is involved in the proceeding;
    5. Provide a concise statement of the alleged facts or expert 
opinions which support the requestor's/petitioner's position on the 
issue and on which the requestor/petitioner intends to rely to support 
its position on the issue; and
    6. Provide sufficient information to show that a genuine dispute 
exists with the applicant on a material issue of law or fact. This 
information must include references to specific portions of the 
application that the requestor/petitioner disputes and the supporting 
reasons for each dispute, or, if the requestor/petitioner believes the 
application fails to contain information on a relevant matter as 
required by law, the identification of each failure and the supporting 
reasons for the requestor's/petitioner's belief.
    In addition, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f)(2), contentions 
must be based on documents or other information available at the time 
the petition is to be filed, such as the application, or other 
supporting document filed by an applicant or licensee, or otherwise 
available to the petitioner. Contentions may be amended or new 
contentions filed after the initial filing only with leave of the 
presiding officer.
    Requestors/petitioners should, when possible, consult with each 
other in preparing contentions and combine similar subject matter 
concerns into a joint contention, for which one of the co-sponsoring 
requestors/petitioners is designated the lead representative. Further, 
in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f)(3), any requestor/petitioner that 
wishes to adopt a contention proposed by another requestor/petitioner 
must do so, in accordance with the E-Filing rule, within ten days of 
the date the contention is filed, and designate a representative who 
shall have the authority to act for the requestor/petitioner.
    As indicated below, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.310(g), any hearing would 
be subject to the procedures set forth in 10 CFR part 2, subpart M.

III. Opportunity To Provide Written Comments

    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 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 received after 30 days will be 
considered if practicable to do so, but only those comments received on 
or before the due date can be assured consideration.

IV. Further Information

    For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the 
NRC's letter to the licensee dated June 22, 2009 (See ADAMS 
ML091550317), the licensee's letter dated July 22, 2009 (See ADAMS 
ML092100253), a letter from NRC to the licensee dated August 13, 2009, 
accepting the Application for formal review (See ADAMS ML092100480), a 
transmittal letter dated March 27, 2009, and affidavit requesting that 
the financial information provided to NRC be withheld from the public 
pursuant to NRC regulation 10 CFR 2.390 (See ADAMS ML092260137). 
Additional background information is contained in letters dated March 
12, 2007 (See ADAMS ML071080087), and September 5, 2007 (See ADAMS 
ML072710031). The documents referenced above are available for public 
inspection, and can be copied for a fee, at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint 
North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland 20852. 
The NRC maintains an Agency-wide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. 
These documents may be accessed through the NRC's Public Electronic 
Reading Room on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov.
    Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who have problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS may contact the PDR reference 
staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail at 
[email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day of October 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Keith I. McConnell,
Deputy Director, Decommissioning and Uranium Recovery Licensing 
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-24564 Filed 10-9-09; 8:45 am]
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