[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 237 (Friday, December 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77023-77024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31638]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2011-0281; License No. DPR-72; Docket No. 50-302]


In the Matter of Florida Power Corporation, et al., Crystal River 
Unit 3 Nuclear Generating Plant; Order Approving Indirect Transfer of 
Control of License

I.

    Florida Power Corporation (FPC, the licensee) and nine other 
entities are the owners of Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating 
Plant (Crystal River), Facility Operating License No. DPR-72. The 
ownership interest in Crystal River is held by ten owners in the 
following percentages:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Percent
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Florida Power Corporation.....................................     91.78
City of Alachua, Florida......................................      0.08
City of Bushnell, Florida.....................................      0.04
City of Gainesville, Florida..................................      1.41
Kissimmee Utility Authority...................................      0.68
City of Leesburg, Florida.....................................      0.82
Utilities Commission of the City of New Smyrna Beach..........      0.56
City of Ocala, Florida........................................      1.33
Orlando Utilities Commission..................................      1.60
Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc............................      1.70
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    With respect to their ownership, they are co-holders of the Crystal 
River facility. The Crystal River facility consists of a single unit, 
Babcock and Wilcox two-loop pressurized water reactor located in Citrus 
County, Florida. The operating license authorized FPC to possess, use 
and operate the Crystal River 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 license for Crystal River, to the 
extent held by FPC. The proposed indirect transfer of control of the 
license results from the planned corporate merger between Progress 
Energy, Inc. (Progress Energy) and Duke Energy Corporation (Duke 
Energy). Progress Energy is FPC'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 FPC.
    FPC is the sole operator of Crystal River. The proposed indirect 
transfer of control of the Crystal River license will not result in any 
change in the role of FPC as the licensed operator and owner of the 
licensed facilities and will not result in any changes to its financial 
qualifications, decommissioning funding assurance, or technical 
qualifications. FPC will retain the requisite qualifications to own and 
operate the licensed facility. The other nine owners are not involved 
in the proposed transaction and will continue to own the same 
percentages of ownership in Crystal River as before the transaction.
    Approval of the indirect transfer of the facility operating license 
was requested by FPC. A notice entitled, ``A 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 53972). No comments or 
hearing requests were received.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80(a), no license, or any right thereunder, 
shall be

[[Page 77024]]

transferred, directly or indirectly, through transfer of control of the 
license, unless the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) shall give 
its consent in writing. Upon review of the information in the 
licensee's 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 
Crystal River license to the extent held by FPC, to the extent affected 
by the proposed corporate merger between Progress Energy and Duke 
Energy, will not affect the qualifications of FPC as holder of the 
Crystal River facility operating license, 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 U.S.C. Sections 2201(b), 
2201(i), 2201(o), and 2234, respectively); and 10 CFR 50.80, it is 
hereby ordered that the application regarding the proposed indirect 
license transfer 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, FPC 
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. 2011-31638 Filed 12-8-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P