[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 34 (Friday, February 18, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9613-9614]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3736]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[EA-11-013]
USEC Inc. (American Centrifuge Lead Cascade Facility and American
Centrifuge Plant); Order Approving Direct Transfer of Licenses and
Conforming Amendment
I
USEC, Inc. (USEC) is the holder of material licenses numbers SNM-
7003 and SNM-2011 for the American Centrifuge Lead Cascade Facility
(Lead Cascade) and American Centrifuge Plant (ACP), respectively, which
authorize the licensee to: (1) Possess and use source and special
nuclear material at the Lead Cascade at the Portsmouth Gaseous
Diffusion Plant site in Piketon, Ohio, in accordance with material
license number SNM-7003; and, (2) construct and operate a gas
centrifuge uranium enrichment facility (the ACP) at the Portsmouth
Gaseous Diffusion Plant site in Piketon, Ohio, in accordance with
material license number SNM-2011.
II
By letter dated September 10, 2010, USEC requested that the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) consent to transfer control of
material license numbers SNM-7003 and SNM-2011 from USEC to a
subsidiary limited liability company, American Centrifuge Operating
(ACO), LLC. In addition, USEC requested NRC approval of changes to the
Lead Cascade and the ACP material licenses. With NRC's approval of the
request to transfer licenses, USEC will then make conforming changes to
the license applications to reflect ACO as the Licensee. USEC's request
included conforming changes to Chapter 2 of the combined Lead Cascade
and ACP security program.
Approval of the direct transfer of the licenses and of the
conforming license amendments was requested pursuant to 10 CFR 70.36. A
notice of consideration of approval was published in the Federal
Register on November 17, 2010 (75 FR 70300), including a notice of
opportunity to request a hearing, or to submit written comments. No
requests for a hearing were submitted in response to this notice.
However, the Ohio Sierra Club submitted a written request, dated
December 5, 2010 (ADAMS Accession No. ML103370366), for a public
meeting to discuss this request to transfer licenses. In response, the
NRC held a public meeting on January 4, 2011, in Piketon, Ohio, to
discuss NRC's process for reviewing USEC's request to transfer licenses
with members of the Sierra Club and other members of the public. During
the meeting, the Southern Ohio Neighbors Group (SONG) submitted written
comments regarding the transfer of licenses to the NRC. SONG's comments
were received after the December 17, 2010, due date for submittal of
comments provided in the November 17, 2010, Federal Register Notice.
The NRC considered the comments to the maximum extent practicable
within the enclosed Safety Evaluation Report.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 30.34(b), 40.46, and 70.36, no license granted
under those parts, and no right thereunder to use byproduct, source, or
special nuclear material, shall be transferred, assigned, or in any
manner disposed of, directly or indirectly, through transfer of control
of any license, to any person, unless the Commission shall, after
securing full information, find that the transfer is in accordance with
the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (the Act), as amended,
and shall give its consent in writing.
The Commission will approve an application for the direct or
indirect transfer of a license if the Commission determines that the
proposed restructuring and reorganization will not affect the
qualifications of the Licensee to hold the license, and that the
transfer is otherwise consistent with applicable provisions of law,
regulations, and orders issued by the Commission pursuant thereto.
After review of the information in USEC's request and other information
before the Commission, and relying on the representations and
agreements contained in the request, the NRC staff has determined that
the proposed corporate restructuring and direct transfer of the
licenses are acceptable and consistent with applicable provisions of
law, regulations, and orders issued by the Commission. The NRC staff
has further determined that the application for the proposed license
amendments complies with the standards and requirements of the Act, as
amended, and the Commission's rules and regulations set forth in Title
10 Chapter I. The requested direct transfer of the licenses and
issuance of the conforming license amendments would not be inimical to
the common defense and security, or to the health and safety of the
public, or the environment. Furthermore, the issuance of the proposed
amendments would be in accordance with 10 CFR part 51 of the
Commission's regulations, and all applicable requirements have been
satisfied.
[[Page 9614]]
III
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, and 184 of the Act;
42 U.S.C. 2201(b), 2201(i), and 2234; 10 CFR 30.34(b), 40.46, and
70.36, it is hereby ordered that the Application regarding the direct
transfer of the licenses, as described herein, be approved, subject to
the following conditions:
(1) USEC will obtain NRC approval on the revised financial
assurance instruments for decommissioning of the Lead Cascade facility;
(2) ACO, as stated in the request, will abide by all commitments
and representations previously made by USEC with respect to the
licenses; and
(3) USEC will provide to the NRC, a copy of the executed facilities
subleasing agreement(s) naming ACO as the tenant and clarifying DOE
indemnification, before the transfers are completed.
It is further ordered that the conforming license amendments for
the direct transfer of licenses shall be issued after the above
conditions have been satisfied, and made effective at the time the
proposed transfer of licenses is completed.
It is further ordered that, to ensure that the NRC is timely
notified of the transfers' completion, the licensee shall inform the
Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, in
writing, of the date of closing of the direct transfer of license
numbers SNM-7003 and SNM-2011 at least one (1) business day prior to
closing. If the direct transfer of the licenses and all the above
conforming conditions has not been completed within 180 days from the
date of the issuance of this Order, the Order shall become null and
void; however, on written application and for good cause shown, such
date may be extended by order. The Director, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, may relax or rescind, in writing, any of the
above conditions upon a demonstration of good cause by the licensee.
This Order is effective upon issuance.
For further details with respect to this Order, see the initial
application dated September 10, 2010, and the Safety Evaluation Report
that supports the amendment, which are available for public inspection
at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White
Flint North, Room O1-F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor),
Rockville, MD 20852, and accessible, electronically, from the
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (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 or 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to [email protected].
Dated at Rockville, MD, this 10th day of February 2011.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Catherine Haney,
Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2011-3736 Filed 2-17-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P