[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 98 (Friday, May 19, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31939-31940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-12620]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


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

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

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 November 24, 1999, as supplemented February 2, 
2000, NSP informed the Commission that NSP entered into operating 
service agreements with Nuclear Management Company, LLC (NMC). The 
initial application and the supplement are hereinafter collectively 
referred to as ``the application,'' unless otherwise indicated. Under 
the proposed transaction, NMC will be designated as the exclusive 
licensee authorized to use and operate Monticello in accordance with 
the terms and conditions of the license. The transaction involves no 
change in plant ownership. The licensee requested approval of the 
proposed transfer of operating authority under the Monticello facility 
operating license to NMC. The application also requested a conforming 
amendment to reflect the transfer. The proposed amendment would add NMC 
to the license as the licensee authorized to use and operate Monticello 
and delete references to NSP as the operator.
    According to the application for approval filed by NSP, NMC would 
become the licensee authorized to use and operate Monticello following 
approval of the proposed license transfer. NMC will assume exclusive 
responsibility for the operation and maintenance of Monticello. 
Ownership of Monticello will not be affected by the proposed transfer 
of operating authority. NSP will retain its current ownership interest. 
NMC will not own any portion of Monticello. Likewise, NSP's entitlement 
to capacity and energy from Monticello will not be affected by the 
transfer of operating authority. No physical changes to the Monticello 
facility were proposed in the application.
    Approval of the transfer of operating authority under 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 15, 2000 (65 FR 7574). Pursuant to such notice, 
Carol Overland, an individual, and North American Water Office, an 
environmental organization, filed hearing requests. The Commission 
presently 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 NMC is qualified to hold the operating 
authority under the license, and that the transfer of the operating 
authority under the license to NMC 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; and 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 .

III.

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, and 184 of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2201(b), 2201(i), and 2234, 
and 10 CFR 50.80, It Is Hereby Ordered that the transfer of operating 
authority under the license, as described herein, to NMC is approved, 
subject to the following conditions:
    (1) After receipt of all required regulatory approvals of the 
transfer of operating authority to NMC, NSP and NMC 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 prior to the date 
of closing. If the transfer 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.
    (2) NMC shall, prior to completion of the transfer of operating 
authority for Monticello, provide the Director of the Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation satisfactory documentary evidence that NMC has 
obtained the appropriate amount of insurance required of

[[Page 31940]]

licensees under 10 CFR Part 140 of the Commission's regulations.
    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 transfer of operating authority is approved. The 
amendment shall be issued and made effective at the time the proposed 
transfer is completed.
    This Order is effective upon issuance.
    For further details with respect to this action, see the initial 
application dated November 24, 1999, and supplement dated February 2, 
2000, and the safety evaluation dated May 15, 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 15th day of May 2000.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian W. Sheron,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 00-12620 Filed 5-18-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P