65FR37418 PP&L, Inc. Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2); Order Approving Transfer of Licenses and Conforming Amendments
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Posting-number: Volume 65, Issue 115, Page 37418
[Federal Register: June 14, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 115)]
[Notices]
[Page 37418-37420]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14jn00-118]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-387 and 50-388]
PP&L, Inc. Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Susquehanna
Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2); Order Approving Transfer of
Licenses and Conforming Amendments
I
PP&L, Inc.,\1\ and Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc., are the
joint owners of the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2
(Susquehanna SES), located in Luzerne, Pennsylvania. They hold Facility
Operating Licenses Nos. NPF-14 and NPF-22 issued by the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) on July 17, 1982, and March
23, 1984, respectively, pursuant to Part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 50). Under these licenses, PP&L, Inc.
(currently owner of 90 percent of each Susquehanna SES unit) is
authorized to possess Susquehanna SES (along with Allegheny Electric
Cooperative, Inc., owner of the remaining 10 percent) and to use and
operate Susquehanna SES.
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\1\ By letter dated March 24, 2000, PP&L, Inc., informed the
Commission that effective February 14, 2000, PP&L, Inc., changed its
name to ``PPL Electric Utilities Corporation.'' PP&L, Inc., also
informed the Commission of name changes for its parent and an
affiliate. No application for license amendments to reflect the name
change of PP&L, Inc., was submitted because, according to the
licensee, it believed the amount of time for processing such an
application would cause it to be approved following a decision on
the license transfers and conforming amendments which are the
subject of this Order. Notwithstanding the above name change of the
PP&L, Inc., entity, since the licenses for the Susquehanna Steam
Electric Station, Units 1 and 2, have not been amended to reflect
PP&L, Inc.'s new name, PPL Electric Utilities Corporation,
references in this Order to this particular licensee will use both
its former and current names interchangeably as appropriate in the
given context.
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II
By an application dated December 15, 1999, which was supplemented
by submittals dated February 7, March 24, April 28, May 4, and May 30,
2000 (collectively referred to as the application herein), PP&L, Inc.,
requested approval of the proposed transfer of its rights under the
operating licenses for Susquehanna SES to a new, affiliated nuclear
generating company, PPL Susquehanna, LLC (PPL Susquehanna). PP&L, Inc.,
also requested approval of conforming amendments to reflect the
transfer.
According to the application, PPL Susquehanna would become the
owner of PP&L, Inc.''s ownership interest in both units following
approval of the
[[Page 37419]]
proposed license transfers and assume operational responsibility. No
physical changes or change in the day-to-day management and operations
of Susquehanna SES are proposed in the application. The proposed
transfers do not involve any change with respect to the non-operating
ownership interest in Susquehanna SES held by Allegheny Electric
Cooperative, Inc.
Approval of the transfers and conforming license amendments was
requested 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 March 3, 2000 (65 FR 11611). No hearing requests or written
comments were filed.
Pursuant to 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. Upon review of the information submitted in the application
and other information before the Commission, the NRC staff has
determined that PPL Susquehanna is qualified to hold the licenses for
Susquehanna SES to the same extent the licenses are now held by PP&L,
Inc., and that the transfer of the licenses, as previously described,
is otherwise consistent with applicable provisions of law, regulations,
and orders issued by the Commission, subject to the conditions
described herein. The NRC staff has further found that the application
for the proposed license amendments complies with the standards and
requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act),
and the Commission's rules and regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter
I; the facility will operate in conformity with the application, the
provisions of the Act, and the rules and regulations of the Commission;
there is reasonable assurance that the activities authorized by the
proposed license amendments 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 amendments will not be inimical to the common
defense and security or to the health and safety of the public; and the
issuance of the proposed license amendments will be in accordance with
10 CFR Part 51 of the Commission's regulations, and all applicable
requirements have been satisfied. The foregoing findings are supported
by a 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 license transfers
referenced above are approved, subject to the following conditions:
1. For purposes of ensuring public health and safety, PPL
Susquehanna shall provide decommissioning funding assurance, to be held
in decommissioning trust(s) for Susquehanna SES upon transfer of the
respective licenses to PPL Susquehanna, in the amount specified in
PP&L, Inc.'s March 29, 1999, ``Decommissioning Report of Financial
Assurance'' as Owner's Decommissioning Fund Totals at December 31,
1998, plus any additional funds added to the accounts since the filing
of that report, on the date of transfer. In addition, PPL Susquehanna
shall ensure that its contractual arrangements with PPL EnergyPlus,
LLC, and the contractual arrangements of PPL EnergyPlus, LLC with PPL
Electric Utilities Corporation (PP&L, Inc.) to obtain necessary
decommissioning funds for Susquehanna SES through a non-bypassable
charge will be maintained until the decommissioning trusts are fully
funded, or shall ensure that other mechanisms that provide equivalent
assurance of decommissioning funding in accordance with the
Commission's regulations are maintained.
2. The decommissioning trust agreements for Susquehanna SES, Units
1 and 2, at the time the license transfers are effected, are subject to
the following:
(a) The trust agreements must be in a form acceptable to the NRC.
(b) With respect to the decommissioning trust funds, investments in
the securities or other obligations of PPL Corporation or its
affiliates, successors, or assigns shall be prohibited. Except for
investments tied to market indexes or other non-nuclear-sector mutual
funds, investments in any entity owning one or more nuclear power
plants are prohibited.
(c) The decommissioning trust agreements for Susquehanna SES, Units
1 and 2, must provide that no disbursements or payments from the trusts
shall be made by the trustee unless the trustee has first given the NRC
30-days prior written notice of payment. The decommissioning trust
agreements shall further contain a provision that no disbursements or
payments from the trusts shall be made if the trustee receives prior
written notice of objection from the Director, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
(d) The decommissioning trust agreements must provide that the
agreements cannot be amended in any material respect without 30-days
prior written notification to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
(e) The appropriate section of the decommissioning trust agreements
shall state that the trustee, investment advisor, or anyone else
directing the investments made in the trusts shall adhere to a
``prudent investor'' standard, as specified in 18 CFR 35.32(a)(3) of
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's regulations.
3. PPL Susquehanna shall not take any action that would cause PPL
Corporation or any other direct or indirect parent of PPL Susquehanna
to void, cancel, or diminish any applicable commitment to fund an
extended plant shutdown as represented in the application.
4. Before the completion of the transfer of the interests in
Susquehanna SES to PPL Susquehanna as previously described herein, PPL
Susquehanna shall provide to the Director of the Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation satisfactory documentary evidence that PPL
Susquehanna has obtained the appropriate amount of insurance required
of licensees under 10 CFR Part 140 of the Commission's regulations.
5. After receipt of all required regulatory approvals of the
subject transfer, PP&L, Inc., shall inform the Director of the Office
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation in writing of such receipt, and of the
date of closing of the transfer no later than 7 business days prior to
the date of closing. Should the transfer not be completed by June 1,
2001, this Order shall become null and void, provided, however, on
application and for good cause shown, such date may be extended.
It is further ordered that, consistent with 10 CFR 2.1315(b),
license amendments for Susquehanna SES that make changes, as indicated
in Enclosure 2 to the cover letter forwarding this Order, to conform
the licenses to reflect the subject license transfers are approved.
Such amendments shall be issued and made effective at the time the
proposed license transfers are completed.
This Order is effective upon issuance.
For further details with respect to this Order, see the initial
transfer application and request for conforming amendments dated
December 15, 1999, supplements dated February 7, March 24, April 28,
May 4, and May 30, 2000, and the safety evaluation dated June 6, 2000,
which are available for public
[[Page 37420]]
inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman
Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC. Publically available
records will be accessible electronically from the ADAMS Public Library
component on the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov (the Electronic
Reading Room).
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. 00-15002 Filed 6-13-00; 8:45 am]
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