[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 237 (Friday, December 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77022-77023]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31636]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2011-0282; License Nos. DPR-23 and SNM-2502; Docket Nos. 50-261 
and 72-3]


In the Matter of Carolina Power & Light Company, H.B. Robinson 
Steam Electric Plant, Unit No. 2, H. B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant, 
Unit 2, Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Order Approving 
Indirect Transfer of Control of Licenses

I.

    Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L, the licensee) is the owner of 
the H.B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant (Robinson), Unit No. 2, Renewed 
Facility Operating License No. DPR-23, and the Robinson Unit No. 2 
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), Renewed Materials 
License No. SNM-2502. The Robinson facility consists of a single unit 
Westinghouse three-loop pressurized water reactor and an ISFSI located 
in Darlington County, South Carolina. The facility operating license 
and materials license authorize CP&L to possess, use, and operate the 
Robinson 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 Sections 50.80 and 72.50 of Title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), that the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC or the Commission) consent to the proposed indirect 
transfer of control of the facility operating license and materials 
license for Robinson. The proposed indirect transfer of control of the 
licenses results from the planned 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.
    CP&L holds 100 percent ownership and is the sole operator of the 
Robinson facility. The proposed indirect transfer of control of the 
Robinson licenses will not result in any change in the role of the CP&L 
as the licensed operator and owner of the Robinson 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.
    Approval of the indirect transfer of control of the facility 
operating license and the material license for Robinson 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 31, 2011 (76 FR 54261). No comments or hearing requests were 
received.

[[Page 77023]]

    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. Also, pursuant to 10 CFR 72.50(a), no license or any part 
included in a license issued under part [72] for an ISFSI 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 gives 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 Robinson licenses 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 Robinson licenses 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 
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 USC Sections 2201(b), 
2201(i), 2201(o), and 2234, respectively); and Sections 50.80 and 72.50 
of 10 CFR, it is hereby ordered that the application regarding the 
proposed 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 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.
Daniel H. Dorman,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2011-31636 Filed 12-8-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P