[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 112 (Friday, June 11, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33362-33365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14202]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos.: 70-27, 70-143, and 70-3085; NRC-2010-0199]


Notice of Opportunity To Request a Hearing and Provide Written 
Comments on Order Approving Indirect License Transfers

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of receipt of license transfer application and 
opportunity to request a hearing.

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DATES: A request for a hearing must be filed by July 1, 2010. Comments 
must be received by July 10, 2010. Comments received after 30 days will 
be considered if practicable to do so, but only the comments received 
on or before the due date can be assured consideration.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. 
Please include Docket ID NRC-2010-0199 in the subject line of your 
comments. Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form will be 
posted on the NRC Web site and on the Federal rulemaking Web site 
Regulations.gov. Because your comments will not be edited to remove any 
identifying or contact information, the NRC cautions you against 
including any information in your submission that you do not want to be 
publicly disclosed.
    The NRC requests that any party soliciting or aggregating comments 
received from other persons for submission to the NRC inform those 
persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to remove any 
identifying or contact information, and therefore, they should not 
include any information in their comments that they do not want 
publicly disclosed.
    Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-2010-0199. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher 301-492-3668; e-mail 
[email protected].
    Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements, and 
Directives Branch (RADB), Division of Administrative Services, Office 
of Administration, Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by fax to RADB at (301) 492-
3446.
    You can access publicly available documents related to this notice 
using the following methods:
    NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have 
copied for a fee publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Public 
File Area O1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland.
    NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): 
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC are 
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, the public can gain 
entry into ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC's public 
documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems 
in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's PDR 
reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to 
[email protected].
    Federal Rulemaking Web site: Public comments related to this notice 
can be found at http://www.regulations.gov by searching on Docket ID: 
NRC-NRC-2010-0199.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Merritt N. Baker, Senior Project 
Manager, Fuel Manufacturing Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and 
Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 6003 Executive Boulevard, Mail Stop EBB-
2C40, Rockville, MD 20850, Telephone: (301) 492-3128, Fax: (301) 492-
5539, E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    As set forth below in an Order issued on June 4, 2010, the U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved a request submitted by 
its licensee, Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Operations Group, Inc. (B&W 
NOG), pertaining to a proposed corporate restructuring involving 
several companies related to B&W NOG. The NRC treated the request as 
one seeking approval of an indirect license transfer.
    B&W NOG is a major fuel cycle facility located in Lynchburg, 
Virginia, which is licensed to possess and use special nuclear material 
(SNM) under 10 CFR Part 70; and the NRC is thus providing this notice 
in accordance with 10 CFR 2.1301(b).
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 70.36, no license, or any right thereunder, 
shall be transferred, assigned, or in any manner disposed of--either 
voluntarily or involuntarily, directly or indirectly--through the 
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 of 1954, as 
amended, and gives its consent in writing.

II. Opportunity To Request a Hearing

    The NRC hereby provides notice that this is a proceeding regarding 
the issuance of the Order set forth below. In addition to authorizing 
the indirect transfer of control over License No. SNM-42 held by B&W 
NOG, the Order authorizes the indirect transfer of control over NRC 
License SNM-124 held by Nuclear Fuel Services for its operations at 
Erwin, Tennessee; and authorizes the indirect transfer of control over 
NRC License SNM-2001 held by BWX Technologies, which pertains to the 
remediation of the former Shallow Land Disposal Area near Parks 
Township, Pennsylvania. In accordance with the general requirements in 
Subpart C of 10 CFR Part 2, as amended on January 14, 2004 (69 FR 
2182), any person whose interest may be affected by this proceeding and 
who desires to participate as a party must file a written request for a 
hearing and a specification

[[Page 33363]]

of the contentions that the person seeks to have litigated in the 
hearing.
    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 (72 FR 49139, 
August 28, 2007). 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 participant should 
contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by telephone at (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 
(2) advise the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a 
request or petition for hearing (even in instances in which the 
participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-
issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the 
Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the hearing in this 
proceeding if the Secretary has not already established an electronic 
docket.
    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. System requirements for accessing 
the E-Submittal server are detailed in NRC's ``Guidance for Electronic 
Submission,'' which is available on the agency's public Web site at 
http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants may 
attempt to use other software not listed on the Web site, but should 
note that the NRC's E-Filing system does not support unlisted software, 
and the NRC Meta System Help Desk will not be able to offer assistance 
in using unlisted software.
    If a participant is electronically submitting a document to the NRC 
in accordance with the E-Filing rule, the participant must file the 
document using the NRC's online, Web-based submission form. In order to 
serve documents through EIE, users will be required to install a Web 
browser plug-in from the NRC Web site. Further information on the Web-
based submission form, including the installation of the Web browser 
plug-in, is available on the NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
    Once a participant has obtained a digital ID certificate and a 
docket has been created, the participant 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 
documents are submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be 
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing system 
no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time July 1, 2010. 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 
E-Filing 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 by contacting the NRC Meta System 
Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC Web site 
at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by a toll-free call at (866) 672-7640. The 
NRC Meta System Help Desk is available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., 
Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government holidays.
    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. A presiding officer, 
having granted an exemption request from using E-Filing, may require a 
participant or party to use E-Filing if the presiding officer 
subsequently determines that the reason for granting the exemption from 
use of E-Filing no longer exists.
    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, or the 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 submission.
    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 Time on the due date.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the 
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 by the Commission, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, or 
a presiding officer.

[[Page 33364]]

Participants are requested not to include social security 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 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 addition to meeting other applicable requirements of 10 CFR 
2.309, the general requirements involving a request for a hearing filed 
by a person other than an applicant must state:
    1. The name, address, and telephone number of the requester;
    2. The nature of the requester's right under the Atomic Energy Act 
of 1954, as amended, to be made a party to the proceeding;
    3. The nature and extent of the requester'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 in the requester'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 support the action that is 
involved in the proceeding;
    5. Provide a concise statement of the alleged facts or expert 
opinions that support the requester's/petitioner's position on the 
issue and on which the requester/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 requester/petitioner disputes and the supporting 
reasons for each dispute, or, if the requester/petitioner believes the 
Application fails to contain information on a relevant matter as 
required by law, the ID of each failure and the supporting reasons for 
the requester'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 documents filed by the 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.
    Requesters/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 
requesters/petitioners is designated as the lead representative. 
Further, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f)(3), any requester/
petitioner that wishes to adopt a contention proposed by another 
requester/petitioner must do so, in accordance with the E-Filing rule, 
within ten (10) days of the date the contention is filed, and designate 
a representative who shall have the authority to act for the requester/
petitioner.

III. Written Comments

    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.1305(a), as an alternative to requests 
for hearings and petitions to intervene, persons may submit written 
comments regarding this action. These comments must be submitted by 
July 10, 2010, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.1305(b). The Commission will 
address the comments received in accordance with 10 CFR 2.1305(c). 
Comments should be submitted as described in the ADDREESES Caption.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the Application for the 
proposed license transfer and supporting documentation, are available 
electronically through the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the 
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which 
provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS 
accession numbers for the publicly available documents related to this 
notice are:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               ADAMS
                        Document                             Accession
                                                              Number
------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 1, 2010: Request to Amend License.................     ML100990164
May 27, 2010: Response to RAI Request III...............     ML101480006
June 10, 2010: Safety Evaluation Report.................     ML101540125
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If you do not have access to ADAMS, or if there are problems 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public 
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or 
by e-mail to [email protected].
    These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint North, 
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction 
contractor will copy documents for a fee.
    The Order set forth below provides additional details.

Order Approving Indirect Transfer of Control of License

I

    Pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 
Part 70 Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Operations Group (B&W NOG or the 
licensee) is the holder of materials license number SNM-42, which 
authorizes the possession and use of special nuclear material (SNM) and 
irradiated fuel (spent nuclear fuel) at the B&W NOG facility and the 
Lynchburg Technology Center, and in packages approved pursuant to 10 
CFR Part 71 at other U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the 
Commission) licensed facilities, and in private carriage between NRC 
licensed facilities within the United States.

II

    By letter dated April 1, 2010, as supplemented by information 
provided in letters dated May 4, 2010, May 14, 2010, and May 27, 2010, 
and by information presented during a May 12 meeting (collectively the 
Application), the licensee explained and documented a proposed 
corporate restructuring (referred to below as a spinoff). As relevant 
here, The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) and its various subsidiaries--
including the licensee--will be separated from the ultimate corporate 
parent--McDermott International, Inc. (MII). The NRC is treating the 
Application as a request for approval of an indirect transfer of 
control over the licensee's activities.

[[Page 33365]]

    BHI is an intermediate parent company of the licensee. BHI's 
subsidiaries include B&W NOG; Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS), which holds 
NRC license SNM-127 for its operations at Erwin, Tennessee; and BWX 
Technologies, which holds NRC license SNM-2001 for remediation of the 
former Shallow Land Disposal Area near Parks Township, Pennsylvania. 
B&W NOG is the primary holder for transportation packages under dockets 
71-5086, 71-6357, 71-9250, 71-9280, and 71-9281. NFS is the primary 
holder for transportation packages under docket 71-0249. This Order 
applies to each of the above-referenced licenses.
    In its Application, B&W NOG requested approval of a conforming 
license amendment that would replace references to MII and McDermott 
Incorporated in chapter 1 of the license with references to Babcock & 
Wilcox Technologies, B&W, and Babcock & Wilcox Investment Company to 
reflect the corporate spinoff and related actions that do not require 
NRC approval. No physical changes to the NRC-licensed facilities, and 
no operational changes in licensed activities will occur as a result of 
this Order.
    Approval of the conforming license amendment will immediately 
follow the planned corporate spinoff.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 70.36, no right to possess or utilize SNM 
granted by any license, issued pursuant to the regulations in 10 CFR 
Part 70, shall be transferred, assigned, or in any manner disposed of, 
either voluntarily or involuntarily, directly or indirectly, through 
transfer of control of any license, to any person, unless the 
Commission shall, after securing full information, find that the 
transfer is in accordance with the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act 
of 1954, as amended (the Act), and shall give its consent in writing. 
After review of the information in the Application, and relying on the 
representations contained in the Application, the NRC staff has 
determined that B&W is qualified to hold the ownership interests 
previously held by BHI, and that the transfers of ownership and 
operating interests to B&W described in the Application, are 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 Application complies with the 
standards and requirements of the Act, as amended, and the Commission's 
rules and regulations set forth in Title 10 Chapter I. The license 
transfer and issuance of the conforming license amendment will not be 
inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety 
of the public, or the environment, and all applicable requirements have 
been satisfied.
    The findings set forth above are supported by NRC's Safety 
Evaluation Report, which is available for review ML101540125.

III

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, and 184 of the Act; 
42 U.S.C. 2201(b), 2201(i), and 2234; and 10 CFR 70.36, it is hereby 
ordered that the Application described above related to the proposed 
corporate restructuring is approved, subject to the following 
condition:
    Should the proposed corporate restructuring not be completed within 
one year from the date of this Order, this Order shall become null and 
void, provided, however, upon written application and 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 May 4, 2010, May 14, 2010, and May 27, 2010, as well 
as the Safety Evaluation Report supporting the decision, which are 
available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document 
Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area 01 F21, 
11555 Rockville Pike (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 via 
e-mail, to [email protected].

    Dated this 4th day of June, 2010.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Catherine Haney,
 Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
Charles Miller,
 Director, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental 
Management Programs.
[FR Doc. 2010-14202 Filed 6-10-10; 8:45 am]
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