[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 237 (Friday, December 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77024-77025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31628]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2011-0284; License Nos. DPR-71 and DPR-62; Docket Nos. 50-325 and
50-324]
In the Matter of Carolina Power & Light Company North Carolina
Eastern, Municipal Power Agency, Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, Units
1 and 2; Order Approving Indirect Transfer of Control of Licenses
I
Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L, the licensee) and North
Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency are the owners of Brunswick
Steam Electric Plant (Brunswick), Units 1 and 2, including Brunswick
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). With respect to
their ownership, they are coholders of Renewed Facility Operating
License Nos. DPR-71 and DPR-62. The Brunswick facility consists of two
General Electric boiling water reactors and an ISFSI located in
Brunswick County, North Carolina. The facility operating licenses
authorize CP&L to possess, use, and operate the Brunswick facility.
II
By application dated March 30, 2011 (Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML11110A031), as
supplemented by letter dated September 2, 2011 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML11255A129) (collectively hereinafter referred to as the application),
the licensee requested, pursuant to Section 184 of the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954, as amended, and Section 50.80 of Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC, the Commission) consent to the proposed indirect transfer of
control of the facility operating licenses for Brunswick, to the extent
held by CP&L. The proposed indirect transfer of control of the licenses
results from the proposed corporate merger between Progress Energy,
Inc. (Progress Energy) and Duke Energy Corporation (Duke Energy).
Progress Energy is CP&L's ultimate parent corporation. As part of the
transaction, Progress Energy will merge with Diamond Acquisition
Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Duke Energy. Progress Energy
will be the surviving entity and will become a wholly owned subsidiary
of Duke Energy. Progress Energy will become an intermediate parent
corporation of CP&L.
The ownership interest in Brunswick held by CP&L is 81.67 percent
and that held by North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency is 18.33
percent. CP&L is the sole operator of Brunswick. The proposed indirect
transfer of control of the Brunswick operating licenses will not result
in any change in the role of the CP&L as the licensed operator and
owner of the Brunswick facility and will not result in any changes to
its financial qualifications, decommissioning funding assurance, or
technical qualifications. CP&L will retain the requisite qualifications
to own and operate the licensed facility. North Carolina Eastern
Municipal Power Agency is not involved in the proposed transaction and
will continue to own 18.33 percent of the Brunswick facility.
Approval of the indirect transfer of control of the facility
operating licenses was requested by CP&L. A notice entitled, ``Notice
of Consideration of Approval of Application for Indirect License
Transfers Resulting from the Proposed Merger Between Progress Energy,
Inc., and Duke Energy Corporation, and Opportunity for Hearing,'' was
published in the Federal Register on August 30, 2011 (76 FR 53970). No
comments or hearing requests were received.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80(a), no license, or any right thereunder,
shall be transferred, directly or indirectly, through transfer of
control of the license, unless the NRC shall give its consent in
writing. Upon review of the information in the application, and other
information before the Commission, and relying on the representations
in the application, the NRC staff has determined that the proposed
indirect transfer of control of the Brunswick licenses to the extent
held by CP&L, to the extent affected by the proposed corporate merger
between Progress Energy and Duke Energy Corporation, will not affect
the qualifications of CP&L as holder of the Brunswick licensees, and is
otherwise consistent with the applicable provisions of law,
regulations, and orders issued by the NRC, pursuant thereto. The
findings set forth above are
[[Page 77025]]
supported by a safety evaluation dated December 2, 2011.
III
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, 161o, and 184 of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2201(b), 2201(i),
2201(o), and 2234, respectively); and 10 CFR 50.80, it is hereby
ordered that the application regarding the indirect license transfers
related to the proposed merger is approved.
It is further ordered that after receipt of all required regulatory
approvals associated with the proposed indirect transfer action, CP&L
shall inform the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
in writing of the date of the closing of the corporate merger of
Progress Energy and Duke Energy. Should the indirect transfer of
control of the licenses not be completed by December 2, 2012, this
Order shall become null and void, provided, however, upon written
application and good cause shown, such date may be extended by order of
the Commission.
This Order is effective upon issuance.
For further details with respect to this Order, see the initial
application dated March 30, 2011, as supplemented by letter dated
September 2, 2011, and the Safety Evaluation dated December 2, 2011,
which are available for public inspection at the Commission's Public
Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area
01 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available
documents created or received at the NRC are accessible electronically
through ADAMS at 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 email to
[email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of December 2011.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michele G. Evans,
Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2011-31628 Filed 12-8-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P