[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46197-46200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15210]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-18, 50-70, 50-73, 50-183, 70-754, 70-1113, 70-1220, 72-
1, 11001075, 11001076, 11005081, 11005086,11005186, 11005555, and
11006278; NRC-2023-0119]
General Electric Company, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas,
LLC, and Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas, LLC; Consideration of Approval
of Indirect Transfer of Licenses
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Application for indirect transfer of licenses; opportunity to
comment, request a hearing, and petition for leave to intervene.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission)
received and is considering approval of an application filed by General
Electric Company (GE), GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC (GEHA),
and Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas, LLC (GNF-A) (together, the
Applicants) on May 30, 2023, as supplemented by letters dated June 20
and June 26, 2023. The application seeks NRC approval of the indirect
transfer of Facility Operating License No. R-33 for the Nuclear Test
Reactor at the Vallecitos Nuclear Center (VNC) in Sunol, California;
Possession Only License No. DPR-1 for the Vallecitos Boiling Water
Reactor at the VNC; Possession Only License No. DR-10 for the Empire
State Atomic Development Associates Vallecitos Experimental Superheat
Reactor at the VNC; Possession Only License No. TR-1 for the GE Test
Reactor at the VNC; Special Nuclear Material License Nos. SNM-960 and
SNM-1270 for the VNC; Special Nuclear Material License No. SNM-1097 for
the Wilmington Fuel Manufacturing Facility in Wilmington, North
Carolina; Special Nuclear Material License No. SNM-2500 for the Morris
Operation Independent Spent Fuel Storage Facility in Grundy County,
Illinois, near Morris, Illinois; and Export License Nos. XR135,
XSNM1662, XSNM03135, XSNM3398, XCOM1124, XSNM3785, and XSNM3066 from
GE, the parent company of the license holders, GEHA and GNF-A, to a
recently created wholly-owned subsidiary of GE named GE Vernova, LLC
that will then be spun-off and will no longer be part of GE. The
application contains sensitive unclassified non-safeguards information
(SUNSI).
DATES: Submit comments by August 18, 2023. A request for a hearing or
petition for leave to intervene must be filed by August 8, 2023. Any
potential party as defined in Sec. 2.4 of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), who believes access to SUNSI is necessary
to respond to this notice must follow the instructions in Section VI of
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods;
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website:
Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0119. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do not
receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact us at
301-415-1677.
Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission at 301-415-1101.
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff.
Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. eastern time (ET)
Federal workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Osiris Siurano-P[eacute]rez, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7827; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 46198]]
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0119 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain
publicly available information related to this action by any of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0119.
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, at 301-415-4737,
or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number for
each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the
first time that it is mentioned in this document.
NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. 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
a.m. and 4 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2023-0119 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. Introduction
The NRC is considering the issuance of an order under 10 CFR 50.80,
``Transfer of licenses,'' 10 CFR 70.36, ``Inalienability of licenses,''
10 CFR 72.50, ``Transfer of license,'' and 10 CFR 110.50, ``Terms,''
approving the indirect transfer of control of the NRC licenses held by
GEHA and GNF-A.
According to the application dated May 30, 2023, as supplemented by
letters dated June 20 and June 26, 2023, the application and request
for NRC approval are necessitated by a proposed transaction
implementing the publicly announced separation of GE into three
separate companies. The application involves the second phase of this
transaction in which GE will transfer its various energy-related
businesses, including its ownership interests in GEHA and GNF-A, into a
recently created wholly-owned subsidiary named GE Vernova, LLC. GE
Vernova, LLC will later convert to a corporation (GE Vernova Corp.),
will then be spun-off to GE shareholders as a publicly traded
corporation, and will no longer be part of GE. With respect to the
licenses held by GEHA and GNF-A, the proposed transaction will occur in
two steps. First, GE Vernova, LLC will become an intermediate holding
company and an indirect corporate parent of both GEHA and GNF-A.
Second, after GE Vernova, LLC has been converted to a corporation, GE
will distribute the shares of GE Vernova Corp. to its shareholders, as
a result of which GE Vernova Corp. will become the new ultimate parent
company for both GEHA and GNF-A, which, in turn, will continue to
operate the facilities and hold the NRC licenses.
No physical changes or operational changes associated with the
licensed activities are being proposed in the application.
Section 184, ``Inalienability of Licenses,'' of the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954, as amended, states that ``[n]o license granted hereunder
and no right to utilize or produce special nuclear material granted
hereby shall be transferred, assigned or in any manner disposed of,
either voluntarily or involuntarily, 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 this Act, and shall give its consent
in writing.'' The NRC's regulations at 10 CFR 50.80, 70.36, and 72.50
provide that no license, or any right thereunder, 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. The NRC's regulation at 10 CFR 110.50(d) states that a
specific export license may be transferred only with the approval of
the Commission by license amendment. The Commission will approve an
application for the indirect transfer of a license if the Commission
determines that the proposed transfer of control 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.
III. Opportunity To Comment
Within 30 days from the date of publication of this notice, persons
may submit written comments regarding the license transfer application,
as provided for in 10 CFR 2.1305 and 10 CFR 110.81. The Commission will
consider and, if appropriate, respond to these comments, but such
comments will not otherwise constitute part of the decisional record.
Comments should be submitted as described in the ADDRESSES section of
this document.
IV. Opportunity To Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave To
Intervene
Within 20 days after the date of publication of this notice, any
person (petitioner) whose interest may be affected by this action may
file a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene
(petition) with respect to the action. Petitions shall be filed in
accordance with the Commission's ``Agency Rules of Practice and
Procedure'' in 10 CFR part 2. Interested persons should consult 10 CFR
2.309. If a petition is filed, the presiding officer will rule on the
petition and, if appropriate, a notice of a hearing will be issued.
Petitions must be filed no later than 20 days from the date of
publication of this notice in accordance with the filing instructions
in the ``Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)'' section of this document.
Petitions and motions for leave to file new or amended contentions that
are filed after the deadline will not be entertained absent a
determination by the presiding officer that the filing demonstrates
good cause by satisfying the three factors in 10 CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i)
through (iii).
A State, local governmental body, Federally recognized Indian
Tribe, or designated agency thereof, may submit
[[Page 46199]]
a petition to the Commission to participate as a party under 10 CFR
2.309(h) no later than 20 days from the date of publication of this
notice. Alternatively, a State, local governmental body, Federally
recognized Indian Tribe, or agency thereof may participate as a non-
party under 10 CFR 2.315(c).
For information about filing a petition and about participation by
a person not a party under 10 CFR 2.315, see ADAMS Accession No.
ML20340A053 (https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML20340A053) and on the NRC's public website
at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html#participate.
V. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)
All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings including
documents filed by an interested State, local governmental body,
federally recognized Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof that
requests to participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302. The E-Filing process requires
participants to submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the
internet, or in some cases, to mail copies on electronic storage media,
unless an exemption permitting an alternative filing method, as further
discussed, is granted. Detailed guidance on electronic submissions is
in the ``Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC'' (ADAMS
Accession No. ML13031A056) and on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the
Office of the Secretary by email at [email protected], or by
telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID)
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing
system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or
other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the
participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-
issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the
Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the proceeding if the
Secretary has not already established an electronic docket.
Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. After a digital ID certificate is
obtained and a docket created, the participant must submit adjudicatory
documents in Portable Document Format. Guidance on submissions is
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the
time the document is submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing system
no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on the due date. Upon receipt of a
transmission, the E-Filing system timestamps the document and sends the
submitter an email confirming receipt of the document. The E-Filing
system also distributes an email that provides access to the document
to the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any others who have
advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to participate in
the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the document on those
participants separately. Therefore, applicants and other participants
(or their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a
digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are filed to
obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by
email to [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m.
and 6 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Participants who believe that they have good cause for not
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper
format. Such filings must be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR
2.302(b) through (d). Participants filing adjudicatory documents in
this manner are responsible for serving their documents on all other
participants. Participants granted an exemption under 10 CFR
2.302(g)(2) must still meet the electronic formatting requirement in 10
CFR 2.302(g)(1), unless the participant also seeks and is granted an
exemption from 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1).
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the
NRC's electronic hearing docket, which is publicly available at https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the
presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued digital ID
certificate as previously described, click ``cancel'' when the link
requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to the
NRC's electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access any
publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket.
Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information
such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone
numbers in their filings unless an NRC regulation or other law requires
submission of such information. With respect to copyrighted works,
except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory
filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, participants
should not include copyrighted materials in their submission.
The Commission will issue a notice or order granting or denying a
hearing request or intervention petition, designating the issues for
any hearing that will be held and designating the Presiding Officer. A
notice granting a hearing will be published in the Federal Register and
served on the parties to the hearing.
For further details with respect to this application, see the
application dated May 30, 2023, as supplement by letters dated June 20
and June 26, 2023 (ML23152A116, ML23171A976, and ML23177A089,
respectively).
VI. Access to Sensitive Unclassified Non-Safeguards Information for
Contention Preparation
Any person who desires access to proprietary, confidential
commercial information that has been redacted from the application
should contact the Applicants by emailing Michelle P. Catts, Senior
Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, GE, at [email protected] for
the purpose of negotiating a confidentiality agreement or a proposed
protective order with the Applicants. If no agreement can be reached,
persons who desire access to this information may file a motion with
the Secretary and addressed to the Commission that requests the
issuance of a protective order.
Dated: July 13, 2023.
[[Page 46200]]
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Shana R. Helton,
Director, Division of Fuel Management, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023-15210 Filed 7-18-23; 8:45 am]
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