65FR37417 In the Matter of GPU Nuclear, Inc., and Jersey Central Power & Light Company (Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station); Order Approving Transfer of License and Conforming Amendment
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Posting-number: Volume 65, Issue 115, Page 37417
[Federal Register: June 14, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 115)]
[Notices]
[Page 37417-37418]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14jn00-117]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-219]
In the Matter of GPU Nuclear, Inc., and Jersey Central Power &
Light Company (Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station); Order
Approving Transfer of License and Conforming Amendment
I
GPU Nuclear, Inc. (GPUN) and Jersey Central Power & Light Company
(JCP&L) are the holders of Facility Operating License No. DPR-16, which
authorizes operation of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station
(Oyster Creek or the facility) at steady-state power levels not in
excess of 1930 megawatts thermal. The facility, which is owned by
JCP&L, is located in Lacey Township, Ocean County, New Jersey. The
license authorizes GPUN to possess, use, and operate the facility, and
JCP&L to possess the facility.
II
Under cover of a letter dated November 5, 1999, GPUN, acting for
itself and on behalf of JCP&L, and AmerGen Energy Company, LLC
(AmerGen), jointly submitted an application requesting approval of the
proposed transfer of the Oyster Creek operating license to AmerGen.
GPUN and AmerGen also jointly requested approval of a conforming
amendment to reflect the transfer. The application was supplemented by
two letters dated April 6, 2000, and another letter dated April 13,
2000, collectively referred to as the application herein unless
otherwise indicated.
AmerGen is a limited liability company that was formed to acquire
and operate nuclear power plants in the United States. PECO Energy
Company (PECO) and British Energy, Inc., each own a 50-percent interest
in AmerGen. British Energy, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of
British Energy, plc. After completion of the proposed transfer, AmerGen
would be the sole owner and operator of Oyster Creek. The conforming
amendment would remove the current licensees from the facility
operating license and would add AmerGen in their place.
Approval of the transfer of the facility operating license and the
conforming license amendment was requested by GPUN and AmerGen pursuant
to 10 CFR 50.80 and 50.90. Notice of the request for approval and an
opportunity for a hearing was published in the Federal Register on
December 16, 1999 (64 FR 70292). Pursuant to such notice, the
Commission received a request for a hearing dated January 5, 2000, from
the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS). On May 3, 2000,
the Commission denied the request for a hearing, and terminated the
associated proceeding. GPU Nuclear, Inc., et al. (Oyster Creek Nuclear
Generating Station), CLI-00-06, 51 NCR ________, slip op. (May 3,
2000).
Under 10 CFR 50.80, no license, or any right thereunder, shall be
transferred, directly or indirectly, through transfer of control of the
license, unless the Commission shall give its consent in writing. After
reviewing the information in the application and other information
before the Commission, and relying upon the representations and
agreements contained in the application, the NRC staff has determined
that AmerGen is qualified to be the holder of the license, and that the
transfer of the license to AmerGen is otherwise consistent with
applicable provisions of law, regulations, and orders issued by the
Commission, subject to the conditions set forth below. The NRC staff
has further found that the application for the proposed license
amendment complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's rules and
regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter 1; that the facility will
operate in conformity with the application, the provisions of the Act
and the rules and regulations of the Commission; that there is
reasonable assurance the activities authorized by the proposed license
amendment can be conducted without endangering the health and safety of
the public and that such activities will be conducted in compliance
with the Commission's regulations; the issuance of the proposed license
amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to
the health and safety of the public; that the issuance of the proposed
license amendment will be in accordance with 10 CFR Part 51 of the
Commission's regulations; and that all applicable requirements have
been satisfied. The findings set forth above are supported by the
staff's safety evaluation dated June 6, 2000.
III
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, and 184 of the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Secs. 2201(b), 2201(i), and
2234, and 10 CFR 50.80, it is hereby ordered that the transfer of the
license as described herein to AmerGen is approved, subject to the
following conditions:
(1) The AmerGen Limited Liability Company Agreement dated August
18, 1997, and any subsequent amendments thereto as of the date of this
Order, may not be modified in any material respect concerning decision-
making authority over ``safety issues'' as defined therein without the
prior written consent of the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
(2) At least half of the members of AmerGen's Management Committee
shall be appointed by a nonforeign member group, all of which
appointees shall be U.S. citizens.
(3) The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Nuclear Officer (CNO)
(if someone other than the CEO), and Chairman of AmerGen's Management
Committee shall be U.S. citizens. They shall have the responsibility
and exclusive authority to ensure, and shall ensure, that the business
and activities of AmerGen with respect to the Oyster Creek operating
license are at all times conducted in a manner consistent with the
protection of the public health and safety and common defense and
security of the United States.
(4) AmerGen shall cause to be transmitted to the Director, Office
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, within 30 days of filing with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission, any Schedules 13D or 13G filed
pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that disclose
beneficial ownership of any registered class of stock of PECO or any
[[Page 37418]]
affiliate, successor, or assignee of PECO to which PECO's ownership
interest in AmerGen may be subsequently assigned with the prior written
consent of the NRC.
(5) AmerGen shall provide decommissioning funding assurance of no
less than $400 million, after payment of any taxes, deposited in the
decommissioning trust fund for Oyster Creek when Oyster Creek is
transferred to AmerGen.
(6) The decommissioning trust agreement for Oyster Creek must be in
a form acceptable to the NRC.
(7) With respect to the decommissioning trust fund, investments in
the securities or other obligations of PECO, British Energy, Inc.,
AmerGen, or their affiliates, successors, or assigns shall be
prohibited. Except for investments tied to market indexes or other
nonnuclear sector mutual funds, investments in any entity owning one or
more nuclear power plants are prohibited.
(8) The decommissioning trust agreement for Oyster Creek must
provide that no disbursements or payments from the trust shall be made
by the trustee unless the trustee has first given the NRC 30-days prior
written notice of payment. The decommissioning trust agreement shall
further contain a provision that no disbursements or payments from the
trust shall be made if the trustee receives prior written notice of
objection from the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
(9) The decommissioning trust agreement must provide that the
agreement cannot be amended in any material respect without 30-days
prior written notification to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
(10) The appropriate section of the decommissioning trust agreement
shall state that the trustee, investment advisor, or anyone else
directing the investments made in the trust shall adhere to a ``prudent
investor'' standard, as specified in 18 CFR 35.32(a)(3) of the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission's regulations.
(11) AmerGen shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the
decommissioning trust is maintained in accordance with the application
for approval of the transfer of the Oyster Creek license and the
requirements of this Order approving the transfer, and consistent with
the safety evaluation supporting this Order.
(12) AmerGen shall take no action to cause PECO or British Energy,
Inc. or their affiliates, successors, or assigns, to void, cancel, or
diminish their $200 million contingency commitment to AmerGen, the
existence of which is represented in the application, or cause them to
fail to perform or impair their performance under the commitment, or
remove or interfere with AmerGen's ability to draw upon the commitment.
Also, AmerGen shall inform the NRC in writing whenever it draws upon
the $200 million commitment.
(13) Before the completion of the sale and transfer of Oyster Creek
to it, AmerGen shall provide the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, satisfactory documentary evidence that AmerGen has obtained
the appropriate amount of insurance required of licensees under 10 CFR
Part 140 of the Commission's regulations.
(14) After receiving of all required regulatory approvals of the
transfer of Oyster Creek, GPUN and AmerGen shall immediately inform the
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, in writing of such
receipt, and state therein the closing date of the sale and transfer of
Oyster Creek. If the transfer of the license is not completed by June
30, 2001, this Order shall become null and void, provided, however, on
written application and for good cause shown, this date may be
extended.
It is further ordered that, consistent with 10 CFR 2.1315(b), a
license amendment that makes changes, as indicated in Enclosure 2 to
the cover letter forwarding this Order, to conform the license to
reflect the subject license transfer is approved. The amendment shall
be issued and made effective at the time the proposed license transfer
is completed.
This Order is effective upon issuance.
For further details with respect to this Order, see the initial
application dated November 5, 1999, two supplemental letters dated
April 6, 2000, and another supplemental letter dated April 13, 2000,
and the safety evaluation dated June 6, 2000, which are available for
public inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman
Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC, and are accessible
electronically through the ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room link at
the NRC Web site (http://www.nrc.gov).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of June 2000.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 00-14999 Filed 6-13-00; 8:45 am]
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