[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 237 (Friday, December 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77024-77025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31628]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2011-0284; License Nos. DPR-71 and DPR-62; Docket Nos. 50-325 and 
50-324]


In the Matter of Carolina Power & Light Company North Carolina 
Eastern, Municipal Power Agency, Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, Units 
1 and 2; Order Approving Indirect Transfer of Control of Licenses

I

    Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L, the licensee) and North 
Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency are the owners of Brunswick 
Steam Electric Plant (Brunswick), Units 1 and 2, including Brunswick 
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). With respect to 
their ownership, they are coholders of Renewed Facility Operating 
License Nos. DPR-71 and DPR-62. The Brunswick facility consists of two 
General Electric boiling water reactors and an ISFSI located in 
Brunswick County, North Carolina. The facility operating licenses 
authorize CP&L to possess, use, and operate the Brunswick facility.

II

    By application dated March 30, 2011 (Agencywide Documents Access 
and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML11110A031), as 
supplemented by letter dated September 2, 2011 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML11255A129) (collectively hereinafter referred to as the application), 
the licensee requested, pursuant to Section 184 of the Atomic Energy 
Act of 1954, as amended, and Section 50.80 of Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC, the Commission) consent to the proposed indirect transfer of 
control of the facility operating licenses for Brunswick, to the extent 
held by CP&L. The proposed indirect transfer of control of the licenses 
results from the proposed corporate merger between Progress Energy, 
Inc. (Progress Energy) and Duke Energy Corporation (Duke Energy). 
Progress Energy is CP&L's ultimate parent corporation. As part of the 
transaction, Progress Energy will merge with Diamond Acquisition 
Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Duke Energy. Progress Energy 
will be the surviving entity and will become a wholly owned subsidiary 
of Duke Energy. Progress Energy will become an intermediate parent 
corporation of CP&L.
    The ownership interest in Brunswick held by CP&L is 81.67 percent 
and that held by North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency is 18.33 
percent. CP&L is the sole operator of Brunswick. The proposed indirect 
transfer of control of the Brunswick operating licenses will not result 
in any change in the role of the CP&L as the licensed operator and 
owner of the Brunswick facility and will not result in any changes to 
its financial qualifications, decommissioning funding assurance, or 
technical qualifications. CP&L will retain the requisite qualifications 
to own and operate the licensed facility. North Carolina Eastern 
Municipal Power Agency is not involved in the proposed transaction and 
will continue to own 18.33 percent of the Brunswick facility.
    Approval of the indirect transfer of control of the facility 
operating licenses was requested by CP&L. A notice entitled, ``Notice 
of Consideration of Approval of Application for Indirect License 
Transfers Resulting from the Proposed Merger Between Progress Energy, 
Inc., and Duke Energy Corporation, and Opportunity for Hearing,'' was 
published in the Federal Register on August 30, 2011 (76 FR 53970). No 
comments or hearing requests were received.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80(a), no license, or any right thereunder, 
shall be transferred, directly or indirectly, through transfer of 
control of the license, unless the NRC shall give its consent in 
writing. Upon review of the information in the application, and other 
information before the Commission, and relying on the representations 
in the application, the NRC staff has determined that the proposed 
indirect transfer of control of the Brunswick licenses to the extent 
held by CP&L, to the extent affected by the proposed corporate merger 
between Progress Energy and Duke Energy Corporation, will not affect 
the qualifications of CP&L as holder of the Brunswick licensees, and is 
otherwise consistent with the applicable provisions of law, 
regulations, and orders issued by the NRC, pursuant thereto. The 
findings set forth above are

[[Page 77025]]

supported by a safety evaluation dated December 2, 2011.

III

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, 161o, and 184 of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2201(b), 2201(i), 
2201(o), and 2234, respectively); and 10 CFR 50.80, it is hereby 
ordered that the application regarding the indirect license transfers 
related to the proposed merger is approved.
    It is further ordered that after receipt of all required regulatory 
approvals associated with the proposed indirect transfer action, CP&L 
shall inform the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 
in writing of the date of the closing of the corporate merger of 
Progress Energy and Duke Energy. Should the indirect transfer of 
control of the licenses not be completed by December 2, 2012, this 
Order shall become null and void, provided, however, upon written 
application and good cause shown, such date may be extended by order of 
the Commission.
    This Order is effective upon issuance.
    For further details with respect to this Order, see the initial 
application dated March 30, 2011, as supplemented by letter dated 
September 2, 2011, and the Safety Evaluation dated December 2, 2011, 
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, Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available 
documents created or received at the NRC are accessible electronically 
through ADAMS 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 email to 
[email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of December 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michele G. Evans,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2011-31628 Filed 12-8-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P