[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 179 (Thursday, September 15, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63503-63504]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-22232]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-302; NRC-2011-0024]
In the Matter of Duke Energy Florida, Inc., and Seminole Electric
Cooperative, Inc., Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating Plant
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Direct transfer of license; order.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an
order approving the direct transfer of the 1.6994 percent of Crystal
River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating Plant (CR-3) currently owned by
Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SEC), to Duke Energy Florida, Inc.
(DEF). The NRC is also amending the facility-operating license for
administrative purposes to reflect the license transfer of the 1.6994
percent ownership from SEC to DEF. The NRC confirmed that the transfer
of the license is otherwise consistent with the applicable provisions
of law, regulations, and orders issued by the Commission. The order
approving the transfer of the 1.6994 percent of CR-3 currently owned by
SEC, to DEF became effective on August 10, 2016.
DATES: The Order was issued on August 10, 2016, and is effective for
one year.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2011-0024 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0024. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; or via email: [email protected]. For technical questions,
contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section of this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at:
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or via email to: [email protected].
The license transfer Order, the NRC safety evaluation supporting the
staff's findings, and the conforming license amendment are available in
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML16123A073, ML16123A074, and ML16123A057,
respectively.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John B. Hickman, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3017, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day of September 2016.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrea L. Kock,
Deputy Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and
Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
Attachment--Order Approving the Transfer of License and Conforming
Amendment
United States of America
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
In the Matter of Duke Energy Florida, Inc.; Crystal River Unit 3
Nuclear Generating Plant
Docket No. 50-302
License No. DPR-72
Order Approving Transfer of License and Conforming Amendment
I.
Duke Energy Florida, Inc. (DEF or the applicant) and Seminole
Electric Cooperative, Inc., are holders of Facility Operating
License No. DPR-72, which authorizes the possession of the Crystal
River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating Plant (CR-3). Facility Operating
License No. DPR-72 also authorizes DEF (currently owner of 98.3006
percent of CR-3) to use and operate CR-3. CR-3 is located in Red
Level, Florida, in Citrus County, about 5 miles south of Levy
[[Page 63504]]
County. The site is 7.5 miles northwest of Crystal River, Florida,
and 90 miles north of St. Petersburg, Florida. CR-3 is situated on
the Gulf of Mexico, within the Crystal River Energy Complex.
CR-3 has been shut down since September 26, 2009, and the final
removal of fuel from the reactor vessel was completed on May 28,
2011. By letter dated February 20, 2013, the licensee submitted a
certification to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of
permanent cessation of power operations and the removal of fuel from
the reactor vessel, pursuant to Sections 50.82(a)(1)(i) and
50.82(a)(1)(ii) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR). Upon docketing of this certification, the 10 CFR part 50
license for CR-3 no longer authorizes operation of the reactor or
emplacement or retention of fuel into the reactor vessel, as
specified in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2).
II.
By application dated July 28, 2015, as supplemented by letter
dated September 22, 2015 (collectively, the application), DEF
requested that the NRC approve the direct transfer of control of
Facility Operating License No. DPR-72 for CR-3, to the extent held
by Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc., to DEF. Seminole Electric
Cooperative, Inc. currently owns 1.6994 percent of CR-3. As a result
of the transaction, DEF will become the sole owner of CR-3.
The applicant also requested approval of a conforming
administrative license amendment that would remove the references to
Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc., in the license. DEF did not
propose any physical changes to the facilities or operational
changes in the application. After completion of the proposed
transfer, DEF will be the sole owner of CR-3, and DEF will remain
the operator of the facility.
DEF requested approval of the direct transfer of the facility
operating license and the conforming license amendment pursuant to
10 CFR 50.80, ``Transfer of licenses,'' and 10 CFR 50.90,
``Application for amendment of license, construction permit, or
early site permit.'' A notice entitled, ``Crystal River Nuclear
Generating Plant, Unit 3; Consideration of Approval of Transfer of
License and Conforming Amendment,'' was published in the Federal
Register on January 4, 2016 (81 FR 98). The NRC did not receive any
public comments regarding the proposed license transfer.
Pursuant to 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 Commission provides its consent
in writing. Upon review of the information in the licensee's
application and other information before the Commission, and relying
upon the representations and agreements contained in the
application, the NRC staff has determined that DEF is qualified to
hold the ownership interests in the facility previously held by
Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc. The NRC staff has also
determined that the direct transfer of ownership interests in the
facility to DEF, as described in the application, is otherwise
consistent with applicable provisions of laws, regulations, and
orders issued by the Commission, 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 facility will operate in conformity with the
applications, 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 the NRC safety
evaluation dated August 10, 2016.
III.
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, 161o and 184 of
the Act, 42 U.S.C. Sections 2201(b), 2201(i), 2201(o) and 2234; and
10 CFR 50.80, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the direct transfer of the
license, as described herein, to DEF is approved, subject to the
following condition:
1. DEF shall provide satisfactory documentary evidence to the
Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
that it has obtained the insurance required of a licensee under 10
CFR part 140, ``Financial Protection Requirements and Indemnity
Agreements,'' in the appropriate amount pursuant to the exemption to
10 CFR 140.11(a)(4) granted to DEF by NRC letter dated April 27,
2015 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS)
Accession No. ML14183B338).
It is further ordered that, consistent with 10 CFR 2.1315(b),
the license amendment that makes changes, as indicated in Enclosure
2 to the cover letter forwarding this Order, to conform the license
to reflect the subject direct license transfer is approved. The
license amendment shall be issued and made effective at the time the
proposed direct transfer is completed.
It is further ordered that after receipt of all required
regulatory approvals of the proposed direct transfer action, DEF
shall inform the Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards in writing of such receipt, and the date of closing
of the transfer no later than one business day prior to the date of
the closing of the direct transfer. Should the direct transfer not
be completed within 1 year of this Order's date of issue, this Order
shall become null and void, provided, however, that 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 July 28, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15216A123),
as supplemented by letter dated September 22, 2015 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML15265A590), and the safety evaluation dated August 10, 2016
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16173A019), which are available for public
inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located
at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21 (First
Floor), Rockville, Maryland, and accessible electronically though
the ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC
Web site, 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, 301-415-4737, or by email at
[email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 10th day of August 2016.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Scott W. Moore,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2016-22232 Filed 9-14-16; 8:45 am]
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