[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 237 (Friday, December 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77022-77023]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31636]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2011-0282; License Nos. DPR-23 and SNM-2502; Docket Nos. 50-261
and 72-3]
In the Matter of Carolina Power & Light Company, H.B. Robinson
Steam Electric Plant, Unit No. 2, H. B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant,
Unit 2, Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Order Approving
Indirect Transfer of Control of Licenses
I.
Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L, the licensee) is the owner of
the H.B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant (Robinson), Unit No. 2, Renewed
Facility Operating License No. DPR-23, and the Robinson Unit No. 2
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), Renewed Materials
License No. SNM-2502. The Robinson facility consists of a single unit
Westinghouse three-loop pressurized water reactor and an ISFSI located
in Darlington County, South Carolina. The facility operating license
and materials license authorize CP&L to possess, use, and operate the
Robinson 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 Sections 50.80 and 72.50 of Title 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), that the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC or the Commission) consent to the proposed indirect
transfer of control of the facility operating license and materials
license for Robinson. The proposed indirect transfer of control of the
licenses results from the planned 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.
CP&L holds 100 percent ownership and is the sole operator of the
Robinson facility. The proposed indirect transfer of control of the
Robinson licenses will not result in any change in the role of the CP&L
as the licensed operator and owner of the Robinson 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.
Approval of the indirect transfer of control of the facility
operating license and the material license for Robinson 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 31, 2011 (76 FR 54261). No comments or hearing requests were
received.
[[Page 77023]]
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. Also, pursuant to 10 CFR 72.50(a), no license or any part
included in a license issued under part [72] for an ISFSI shall be
transferred, assigned, or in any manner disposed of, 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, and relying on the representations
in the application, the NRC staff has determined that the proposed
indirect transfer of control of the Robinson licenses 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 Robinson licenses 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
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 USC Sections 2201(b),
2201(i), 2201(o), and 2234, respectively); and Sections 50.80 and 72.50
of 10 CFR, it is hereby ordered that the application regarding the
proposed 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 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.
Daniel H. Dorman,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2011-31636 Filed 12-8-11; 8:45 am]
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