[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 27, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59432-59434]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23346]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. STN 50-528, STN 50-529, and 72-44; NRC-2021-0126]


In the Matter of Arizona Public Service Company; Salt River 
Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District; Public Service 
Company of New Mexico; Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1 
and 2; and Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Transfers of control of licenses; order.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
Order approving the application dated May 19, 2021, as supplemented by 
letter dated September 14, 2021, filed by Arizona Public Service 
Company (APS), on behalf of Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement 
and Power District (SRP) and Public Service Company of New Mexico 
(PNM). The application sought NRC consent to the partial transfers of 
Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-41 and NPF-51 for Palo 
Verde Nuclear Generating Station (Palo Verde), Units 1 and 2, 
respectively, and the general license for the Palo Verde Independent 
Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). Specifically, it

[[Page 59433]]

sought NRC consent to the transfers from PNM to SRP of a 7.9333330 
percent share of the undivided interests in Palo Verde, Unit 1, and of 
a 0.7933333 percent share of the undivided interests in Palo Verde Unit 
2. No physical changes or operational changes were proposed in the 
application.

DATES: The Order was issued on October 21, 2021, and is effective for 1 
year.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0126 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 Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0126. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-287-0624; 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 https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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 
by email to [email protected]. The license transfer order and the 
NRC staff safety evaluation supporting the order are available in ADAMS 
under ADAMS Package Accession No. ML21245A072.
     Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of public documents, is currently closed. You may submit your request 
to the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 
301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Siva P. Lingam, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1564, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.

    Dated: October 21, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Siva P. Lingam,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV, Division of Operating 
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

Attachment--Order Approving Transfers of Control of Licenses

United States of America

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

    In the Matter of: Arizona Public Service Company, Salt River 
Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, Public Service 
Company of New Mexico, Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Units 
1 and 2, and Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation.

Docket Nos. STN 50-528, STN 50-529, and 72-44.

License Nos. NPF-41 and NPF-51.

Order Approving Transfers of Control of Licenses

I

    Arizona Public Service Company (APS) is the licensed operator and a 
licensed co-owner of Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-41, 
NPF-51, and NPF-74 for the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (Palo 
Verde), Units 1, 2, and 3, respectively, and the general license for 
the Palo Verde Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). 
Palo Verde is located in Maricopa County, Arizona. The other licensed 
co-owners (tenants-in-common), Salt River Project Agricultural 
Improvement and Power District (SRP); Southern California Edison 
Company; El Paso Electric Company; Public Service Company of New Mexico 
(PNM); Southern California Public Power Authority; and Los Angeles 
Department of Water and Power, hold possession-only rights for these 
licenses (i.e., they are not licensed to operate the facility).

II

    By application dated May 19, 2021, as supplemented by letter dated 
September 14, 2021 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS) Accession Nos. ML21139A330 and ML21257A399, respectively), APS, 
on behalf of SRP and PNM (together, the Applicants), requested, 
pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 
Sections 50.80, ``Transfer of licenses,'' and 72.50, ``Transfer of 
license,'' that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the 
Commission) consent to the partial license transfers from PNM to SRP of 
a 7.9333330 percent share of the undivided interests in Palo Verde, 
Unit 1, and of a 0.7933333 percent share of the undivided interests in 
Palo Verde, Unit 2.
    According to the application, PNM currently has a 10.2 percent 
possession-only interest in Palo Verde, Units 1, 2, and 3. While most 
of this interest is directly owned by PNM, the remainder, specifically 
the Unit 1 interests and Unit 2 interests, is leased from financial 
institutions pursuant to sale-leaseback transactions PNM executed in 
1985 and 1986 with investment and banking firms. As the lessee, PNM 
retained all the leasehold and control rights and responsibility 
associated therewith. The NRC consented to these sale-leaseback 
transactions (ADAMS Accession No. ML021680489). Under the terms of 
these past transactions, the Unit 1 interests and the Unit 2 interests 
are currently held in trust and leased to PNM pursuant to the NRC's 
prior orders, license amendments, and creditor regulations in 
accordance with 10 CFR 50.81, ``Creditor regulations.'' The sale-
leaseback transactions were structured so that although the investment 
and banking firms own the Unit 1 interests and the Unit 2 interests, 
none has direct or indirect controlling interest in Palo Verde. 
Instead, under the leases, PNM retains leasehold and control rights and 
responsibility under the NRC licenses for these interests.
    According to the application, PNM entered into a total of 11 sale-
leaseback transactions refinancing portions of its interests in Palo 
Verde, Units 1 and 2. Six leases have since expired, leaving five 
remaining. The application concerns those remaining five leases, which 
are approaching their expiration dates and cannot be renewed, with four 
leases expiring in 2023 and one in 2024. The financial institutions 
have agreed to sell and transfer these interests to SRP starting from 
2021 and SRP has agreed to purchase these interests, provided that SRP 
and PNM have secured the requisite approval from the NRC for SRP 
ownership of the incremental interests once the leases expire.
    After the proposed partial license transfers, SRP would own a total 
of 25.423333 percent of the shares in Unit 1, and 18.2833333 percent of 
the shares in Unit 2, and PNM would own a total of 2.266667 percent of 
the shares in Unit 1, and 9.4066667 percent of the shares in Unit 2. 
APS owns a 29.1 percent tenant-in-common interest and holds both 
operating and possession rights in the NRC licenses. Further, APS 
operates, and would continue to operate, each of the Palo Verde units 
and the ISFSI pursuant to the operating rights granted to it under the 
license of each Palo Verde unit. The remaining tenant-in-common co-
owners that hold

[[Page 59434]]

possession-only rights in the NRC licenses are: Southern California 
Edison Company (15.8 percent); El Paso Electric Company (15.8 percent); 
Southern California Public Power Authority (5.91 percent); and Los 
Angeles Department of Water and Power (5.7 percent). Although the 
ownership interests in Palo Verde would change, significant actions 
involving operation of the Palo Verde units require unanimity of all 
owners of Palo Verde. Currently, no entity owns 50 percent or more of 
the voting interests. The same would be true following the proposed 
transfers of the leased interests. Accordingly, after the effective 
date of the transactions, there would be no change in the control of 
operation of Palo Verde; APS would continue to make all technical 
decisions that do not require approval from all owners of Palo Verde.
    No physical changes or operational changes are proposed in the 
application.
    A notice of the application and opportunity to comment, request a 
hearing, and petition for leave to intervene on the application was 
published in the Federal Register (FR) on June 29, 2021 (86 FR 34282). 
The NRC did not receive any comments or hearing requests on the 
application.
    Under 10 CFR 50.80 and 10 CFR 72.50, no license for a production or 
utilization facility or ISFSI, or any right thereunder, shall be 
transferred, 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, the NRC staff has determined that PNM can transfer a 
7.9333330 percent share of the undivided interests in Palo Verde, Unit 
1, and a 0.7933333 percent share of the undivided interest in Palo 
Verde, Unit 2, to SRP. The proposed transferee is qualified to be the 
holder of the licenses and transfer of the licenses is otherwise 
consistent with applicable provisions of law, regulations, and orders 
issued by the Commission pursuant thereto.
    The findings set forth above are supported by an NRC staff safety 
evaluation dated the same date as this Order, which is available at 
ADAMS Accession No. ML21245A064.

III

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, and 184 of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2201(b), 2201(i), and 2234; 
and 10 CFR 50.80 and 10 CFR 72.50, it is hereby ordered that the 
application regarding the proposed partial license transfers is 
approved for Palo Verde Units 1 and 2 and the Palo Verde ISFSI.
    It is further ordered that after receipt of all required regulatory 
approvals of the proposed partial license transfers, the Applicants 
shall inform the Director of the NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation in writing of such receipt, and of the date of the closing 
of the transfers, no later than 2 business days prior to the date of 
the closing of the transfers. Should the transfers not be completed 
within 1 year of the date of this Order, this Order shall become null 
and void, provided, however, that upon written application and for 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 application 
dated May 19, 2021, as supplemented by letter dated September 14, 2021, 
and the NRC staff's safety evaluation dated the same date as this 
Order, which are available for public inspection electronically through 
ADAMS in the NRC Library at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. 
Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS should contact the NRC Public 
Document Room reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-
415-4737 or by email to [email protected].

    Dated: October 21, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

/RA/

Bo M. Pham,

Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 2021-23346 Filed 10-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P