[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 131 (Friday, July 8, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40403-40406]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-17164]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-244; Docket No. 72-67]


R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant, LLC, R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power 
Plant, R.E. Ginna Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Notice 
of Consideration of Approval of Application Regarding Proposed 
Corporate Merger, and Opportunity for a Hearing

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of request for license transfer, opportunity to comment, 
opportunity to request a hearing.

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DATES: Comments must be filed by August 8, 2011. A request for a 
hearing must be filed by July 28, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Please include Docket ID NRC-2009-0192 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 http://www.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

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their comments that they do not want publicly disclosed.
    You may submit comments by any one of the following methods.
     Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-
2009-0192. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher 301-
492-3668; e-mail [email protected].
     Mail comments to: Chief, Rules, Announcements, and 
Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWB-05-
B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
     Fax comments 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, O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC 
are available online in the NRC Library 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 the 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]. 
The application dated May 12, 2011, contains proprietary information 
and, accordingly, those portions are being withheld from public 
disclosure. A redacted version of the application is available 
electronically under ADAMS Accession No. ML11138A159.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas Pickett, Senior Project 
Manager, Plant Licensing Branch I-1, Division of Operating Reactor 
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: 301-415-1364; 
e-mail: [email protected].
    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) is 
considering the issuance of an Order under Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.80 approving the indirect transfer of 
Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-18, for the R.E. Ginna 
Nuclear Power Plant (Ginna), 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 Energy Nuclear Group, LLC (CENG). 
The indirect transfer of control would result from the proposed merger 
between Exelon Corporation (Exelon) and one of CENG's parent companies, 
Constellation Energy Group, Inc (CEG).
    According to the application dated May 12, 2011, filed by Exelon 
Generation Company, LLC (Exelon Generation) acting on behalf of itself, 
Exelon, and Exelon Ventures Company, LLC (Exelon Ventures) and CENG 
acting on behalf of its subsidiary licensee, R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power 
Plant, LLC, the applicants seek approval pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80 of 
the indirect transfer of control of the Ginna Renewed Facility 
Operating License No. DPR-18 and the Ginna Independent Spent Fuel 
Storage Installation Facility (ISFSI).
    CEG is one of two parent companies of CENG. CEG, through its 
subsidiaries, has a 50.01 percent ownership interest in CENG. EDF Inc. 
has the remaining 49.99 percent ownership interest in CENG.
    According to the application:
     EDF Inc.'s 49.99 percent ownership interest in CENG is not 
affected by the corporate merger of Exelon and CEG. EDF Inc. is a U.S. 
corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware and a 
wholly-owned subsidiary of E.D.F. International SAS, a limited company 
organized under the laws of France, which is, in turn, a wholly-owned 
subsidiary of Electricit[eacute] de France SA, a French limited 
company;
     The existing chain of ownership for Exelon Generation's 
current licensed facilities is unaffected by the proposed transaction 
and associated license transfer for Ginna and the ISFSI;
     The proposed transaction does not result in any transfer 
of control with respect to the licenses for the current Exelon 
Generation plants;
     Upon completion of the transaction, CEG will become a 
direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of Exelon Generation; and
     Throughout the transaction, the direct ownership by CEG of 
100 percent of Constellation Nuclear, LLC and, indirectly, the 
ownership by CEG of 50.01 percent in CENG and CENG's ownership of 
Constellation Nuclear Power Plants, LLC, Ginna, and the ISFSI, will 
remain unchanged.
    No physical changes to the Ginna facility or the ISFSI, 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 
corporate 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.
    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 via electronic 
submission 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). NRC regulations are accessible electronically 
from the NRC Library on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/.
    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

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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 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 
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://ehd1.nrc.gov/EHD/, 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.
    Petitions for leave to intervene must be filed no later than 20 
days from the date of publication of this notice. Non-timely filings 
will not be entertained absent a determination by the presiding officer 
that the petition or request should be granted or the contentions 
should be admitted, based on a balancing of the factors specified in 10 
CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i)-(viii).
    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 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.
    For further details with respect to this license transfer 
application, see the application dated May 12, 2011, available for 
public inspection at the

[[Page 40406]]

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 documents created or received 
at the NRC are accessible electronically through ADAMS in the NRC 
Library at 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].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 28th day of June 2011.

    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. 2011-17164 Filed 7-7-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P