[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 98 (Friday, May 19, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31937-31938]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-12618]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-263, License No. DPR-22]


Northern States Power Company (Monticello Nuclear Generating 
Plant, Unit No. 1); Order Approving Transfer of License and Conforming 
Amendment

I.

    Northern States Power Company (NSP or the licensee) is the holder 
of Facility Operating License No. DPR-22, which authorizes operation of 
Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, Unit No. 1 (Monticello or the 
facility). The facility is located in Wright County at the licensee's 
site in Wright and Sherburne Counties, Minnesota. The license 
authorizes NSP to possess, use, and operate Monticello.

II.

    By application dated October 29, 1999, as supplemented March 14 and 
April 25, 2000, the Commission was informed that NSP entered into an 
agreement on March 24, 1999, to merge with New Century Energies, Inc. 
(NCE). The initial application and the supplements are hereinafter 
collectively referred to as ``the application,'' unless otherwise 
indicated. Under the proposed transaction, NCE will be merged with and 
into NSP, which will be renamed Xcel Energy, Inc. (Xcel). At the time 
of the merger, NSP will transfer all of its existing electric and 
natural gas utility facilities and operations currently conducted 
directly by NSP to a newly formed utility operating company subsidiary 
(referred to herein as ``New NSP'') of Xcel. The licensee requested 
approval of the proposed transfer of the Monticello facility operating 
license to New NSP. The application also requested approval of a 
conforming amendment to reflect the transfer. The proposed amendment 
would add a footnote to the license to reflect the transfer from NSP to 
New NSP, which will be known as Northern States Power Company, the same 
name now used by NSP.
    According to the application for approval filed by NSP, the 
facility would be transferred to New NSP after approval of the proposed 
license transfer and New NSP would become responsible for the 
operation, maintenance, and eventual decommissioning of Monticello. No 
physical changes to the Monticello facility or operational changes were 
proposed in the application.
    Approval of the transfer of the facility operating license and 
conforming license amendment was requested by NSP pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.80 and 50.90. Notice of the application for approval and an 
opportunity for a hearing was published in the Federal Register on 
February 10, 2000 (65 FR 6641). Pursuant to such notice, Carol 
Overland, an individual, and North American Water Office, an 
environmental organization, filed hearing requests. The Commission 
currently has the matter under consideration.
    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 in the application by NSP and 
other information before the Commission, and relying upon the 
representations and agreements contained in the application, the NRC 
staff has determined that New NSP is qualified to hold the license and 
that the transfer of the license to New NSP 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; 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 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 
the health and safety of the public; the issuance of the proposed 
amendment 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 May 12, 
2000.

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, and 10 CFR 50.80, It Is Hereby Ordered that the 
transfer of the license, as described herein, to New NSP is approved, 
subject to the following conditions:
    (1) New NSP shall, prior to completion of the subject transfer, 
provide the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 
satisfactory documentary evidence that New NSP has obtained the 
appropriate amount of insurance required of licensees under 10 CFR Part 
140 of the Commission's regulations.
    (2) New NSP shall provide the Director of the Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation a copy of any application, at the time it is filed, 
to transfer (excluding grants of security interests or liens) from New 
NSP to its parent, Xcel Energy, Inc., or to any other affiliated 
company, facilities for the production, transmission, or distribution 
of electric energy having a depreciated book value exceeding 10 percent 
(10%) of New NSP's consolidated net utility plant, as recorded on its 
books of account.
    (3) After receipt of all required regulatory approvals of the 
transfer of Monticello to New NSP, NSP shall inform the Director of the 
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation in writing of such receipt within 
5 business days, and of the date of the closing of the transfer of 
Monticello no later than 7 business days before the date of closing. If 
the transfer of the license is not completed by April 1, 2001, this 
Order shall become null and void, provided, however, upon written 
application and for good cause shown, such date may in writing 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 action, see the initial 
application dated October 29, 1999, supplements dated March 14 and 
April 25, 2000, and the safety evaluation dated May 12, 2000, which are 
available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document 
Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC, and 
accessible electronically through the ADAMS Public Electronic Reading 
Room link at the NRC Web site (http://www.nrc.gov).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of May 2000.


[[Page 31938]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian W. Sheron,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 00-12618 Filed 5-18-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P