[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 92 (Monday, May 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28002-28003]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-11263]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2012-0319; Docket No. 50-416; License No. NPF-29]
In the Matter of South Mississippi Electric Power Association,
System Energy Resources, Inc., Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Units No. 1;
Order Approving Direct and Indirect Transfers of License and Approving
Conforming Amendment
I
South Mississippi Electric Power Association, System Energy
Resources, Inc. (SERI), Entergy Mississippi, Inc. (EMI), and Entergy
Operations, Inc. (EOI) (the licensees), are co-holders of Facility
Operating License No. NPF-29. South Mississippi Electric Power
Association and SERI are the owners and EOI is authorized to possess,
use, and operate Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Unit No. 1 (GGNS). The EMI
has anti-trust responsibilities imposed in the license. The GGNS is
located in Claiborne County, Mississippi.
II
By application dated September 27, 2012, as supplemented by letters
dated January 29 and April 16, 2013, EOI requested on behalf of itself,
SERI, 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 GGNS, and associated
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, to a new limited liability
company, System Energy Resource, LLC (SERL). The applicants also
requested approval of a conforming license amendment that would replace
references to SERI in the license with references to SERL to reflect
the transfer of ownership. The EMI has anti-trust responsibilities in
the license and the application requested references to EMI in the
license be replaced with the new limited liability company, Entergy
Mississippi, LLC (EML). 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 SERL, EML, and EOI.
Ultimately, SERL and South Mississippi
[[Page 28003]]
Electric Power Association will acquire ownership of the facility and
EOI will remain responsible for the operation and maintenance of GGNS.
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 of Entergy (e.g. EMI) own the 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 GGNS 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 SERI, 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
Conforming Amendment and Opportunity for a Hearing,'' was published in
the Federal Register on January 3, 2013 (78 FR 325). 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 SERI to SERL, and EMI to EML, 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
NRC staff has further found that the application for the proposed
license amendment complies with the standards and requirements of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's
rules and regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; the facilities
will operate in conformity with the application, the provisions of the
Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission; there is
reasonable assurance that the activities authorized by the proposed
license amendment can be conducted without endangering the health and
safety of the public and that such activities will be conducted in
compliance with the Commission's regulations; the issuance of the
proposed license amendment will not be inimical to the common defense
and security or to the health and safety of the public; and the
issuance of the proposed amendment will be in accordance with 10 CFR
Part 51 of the Commission's regulations and all applicable requirements
have been satisfied. 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 systems 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 SERL 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 consistent with 10 CFR 2.1315(b), the
license amendment that makes a change, as indicated in Enclosure 5 to
the cover letter forwarding this Order (Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML13077A237), to reflect the
subject direct transfer, is approved. The amendment shall be issued and
made effective at the time the proposed direct transfer action is
completed.
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 (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. 2013-11263 Filed 5-10-13; 8:45 am]
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