[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