[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 24, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67092-67094]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25621]
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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; corrected order.
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SUMMARY: On October 21, 2021, and published in the Federal Register on
October 27, 2021, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued
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 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. The NRC is issuing an Order correcting and superseding the
Order of October 21, 2021.
DATES: The corrected Order was issued on November 17, 2021.
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 corrected license transfer order
dated November 17, 2021, the superseded license transfer order dated
October 21, 2021, and published in the Federal Register on October 27,
2021 (86 FR 59432), and the NRC staff safety evaluation supporting the
orders are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML21307A132,
ML21245A065, and ML21245A064, respectively.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
[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 corrected Order is attached.
Dated: November 18, 2021.
[[Page 67093]]
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--Corrected Order Approving Transfers of Control of Licenses
(Superseding Order of October 21, 2021)
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.
CORRECTED ORDER APPROVING TRANSFERS OF CONTROL OF LICENSES (SUPERSEDING
ORDER OF OCTOBER 21, 2021)
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 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 October 21, 2021, 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 initial transactions under the beneficial
interest sales agreements described in the application, no later
than 2 business days prior to the date of the closing. Should the
closing 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. The Applicants shall also inform the Director of
the NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation in writing of the
expiration of each of the leases no later than 2 business days after
their expiration.
This Order is effective upon issuance and it corrects and
supersedes the NRC Order approving the application issued on October
21, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21245A065) and published on October
27, 2021 (86 FR 59432).
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
October 21, 2021, 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
[[Page 67094]]
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: November 17, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
/RA/
Bo M. Pham,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2021-25621 Filed 11-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P