[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 92 (Monday, May 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28001-28002]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-11262]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0318; Docket Nos. 50-458; License No. NPF-47]


In the Matter of Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, LLC., and Entergy 
Operations, Inc., River Bend Station, Unit 1; Order Approving Direct 
and Indirect Transfers of License

I

    Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, LLC. (EGS-LA) and Entergy 
Operations, Inc. (EOI) (the licensees) are co-holders of Facility 
Operating License No. NPF-47. The EGS-LA is the owner and EOI is 
authorized to possess, use, and operate River Bend Station, Unit 1 
(RBS). The RBS is located in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.

II

    By application dated September 27, 2012, as supplemented by letters 
dated January 29 and April 16, 2013, EOI requested on behalf of itself, 
EGS-LA, and their parent companies (together, the applicants), pursuant 
to Sec.  50.80 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 
that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) consent to certain 
license transfers to permit the direct transfer of RBS, and associated 
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, to a new limited liability 
company also named Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, LLC. (New EGS-LA). In 
addition, the applicants requested the NRC's consent to approve 
associated indirect license transfers to the extent such would be 
affected by the formation of a new intermediary holding company. 
Entergy Corporation (Entergy) will remain as the ultimate parent 
company, but a new intermediate company, Entergy Utilities Holdings, 
LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, will be created, which will 
be the direct parent company of New EGS-LA and EOI. Ultimately, New 
EGS-LA will acquire ownership of the facility and EOI will remain 
responsible for the operation and maintenance of RBS. The license 
transfers are necessary to support a proposed separation of the Entergy 
transmission system in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and 
Texas. Currently, the utility operating company subsidiaries

[[Page 28002]]

of Entergy (e.g., EGS-LA) own the respective transmission assets. 
Following the proposed transactions, each of the Entergy subsidiaries 
will become a new limited liability company with the same assets except 
that the transmission assets will be owned by ITC Holdings Corp. and 
operated by Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.
    No physical changes to the facilities or operational changes are 
being proposed in the application. The interconnections that provide 
offsite power to RBS do not change as a result of the proposed direct 
and indirect license transfers.
    Approval of the direct and indirect transfers of the facility 
operating license was requested by EOI, acting on behalf of EGS-LA, as 
well as their parent companies and itself. A notice entitled, 
``Consideration of Approval of Application Regarding Proposed Creation 
of a Holding Company and Transfer of Facility Operating License and 
Opportunity for a Hearing,'' was published in the Federal Register on 
January 3, 2013 (78 FR 320). No comments or hearing requests were 
received.
    Under 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 NRC shall give its consent in writing. Upon review 
of the information in the licensees' application, and other information 
before the Commission, the NRC staff has determined that the proposed 
indirect license transfer of control of the subject license held by the 
licensees to the extent such will result from the proposed formation of 
the intermediary holding company in conjunction with the planned direct 
transfer of EGS-LA to New EGS-LA to the extent affected in order to 
support transfer of the Entergy transmission assets as described in the 
application, is otherwise consistent with the applicable provisions of 
law, regulations, and orders issued by the NRC, pursuant thereto, 
subject to the conditions set forth below. The findings set forth above 
are supported by a safety evaluation dated the same day as this Order.

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; and 10 CFR 50.80, It is hereby ordered that the 
application regarding the indirect and direct license transfers related 
to the proposed corporate restructuring in connection with the 
separation of the Entergy transmission system is approved, subject to 
the following conditions:
    1. Before completion of the proposed transaction, EOI shall provide 
the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation satisfactory 
documentary evidence that New EGS-LA has obtained the appropriate 
amount of insurance required of the licensees under 10 CFR part 140 of 
the Commission's regulations.
    It is further ordered that after receipt of all required regulatory 
approvals of the proposed direct transfer action, EOI shall inform the 
Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation in writing of such 
receipt, and of the date of closing, no later than 1 business day 
before the closing of the direct transfer. Should the proposed direct 
transfer not be completed within 1 year of this Order's date of 
issuance, 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 September 27, 2012 (Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML12275A013), as supplemented 
by letters dated January 29 and April 16, 2013 (ADAMS Accession Nos. 
ML13030A204 and ML13107A010, respectively), and the safety evaluation 
dated the same date as this Order (ADAMS Accession No. ML13077A237), 
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 20852. 
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 email to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of May 2013.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Eric J. Leeds,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2013-11262 Filed 5-10-13; 8:45 am]
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