[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 98 (Friday, May 19, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31938-31939]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-12619]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


In the Matter of Northern States Power Company (Prairie Island 
Nuclear Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2, and Prairie Island Independent 
Spent Fuel Storage Installation); Order Approving Transfer of Licenses 
and Conforming Amendments

[Docket Nos. 50-282, 50-306, 72-10, License No. DPR-42, License No. 
DPR-60, License No. SNM-2506]

I.

    Northern States Power Company (NSP or the licensee) is the holder 
of Facility Operating Licenses Nos. DPR-42 and DPR-60, which authorize 
operation of Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2 
(Prairie Island or the facility), and Materials License No. SNM-2506, 
which authorizes operation of the Prairie Island Independent Spent Fuel 
Storage Installation (Prairie Island ISFSI). The facilities are located 
at the licensee's site in Goodhue County, Minnesota. The operating 
licenses authorize NSP to possess, use, and operate Prairie Island. The 
materials license authorizes NSP to receive, acquire, and possess power 
reactor spent fuel at the Prairie Island ISFSI.

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 Prairie Island facility 
operating licenses and the Prairie Island ISFSI materials license to 
New NSP. The application also requested conforming amendments to 
reflect the transfer. The proposed amendments would add a footnote to 
the licenses 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 and the Prairie Island ISFSI would be transferred to New NSP 
following approval of the proposed license transfers, and New NSP would 
become responsible for the operation, maintenance, and eventual 
decommissioning of Prairie Island and the Prairie Island ISFSI. No 
physical changes to the facilities or operational changes were proposed 
in the application.
    Approval of the transfer of the facility operating licenses and 
conforming license amendments was requested by NSP pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.80 and 50.90, and approval of the transfer of the materials license 
and conforming amendment was requested by NSP pursuant to 10 CFR 72.50 
and 72.56. Notice of the application for approval and an opportunity 
for a hearing was published in the Federal Register on February 10, 
2000 (65 FR 6642). 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. Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.50, no license shall be transferred, 
directly or indirectly, through transfer of control of the license, 
unless the Commission gives 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 licenses, and that the transfer of the 
licenses 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 amendments 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 and the Prairie Island ISFSI 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 
the health and safety of the public; and the issuance of the proposed 
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 .

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 and 10 CFR 72.50, It Is Hereby 
Ordered that the transfer of the licenses, as described herein, to New 
NSP is approved, subject to the following conditions:
    (1) New NSP shall, prior to completion of the subject transfers, 
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 and the Director of the Office of Nuclear Materials 
Safety and Safeguards 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 Prairie Island and the Prairie Island ISFSI to New NSP, NSP 
shall inform the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 
and the Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards, in writing of such receipt within 5 business days, and of 
the date of the closing of the transfer of Prairie Island and the 
Prairie Island ISFSI no later than 7 business days prior to the date of 
closing. If the transfer of the licenses is not completed by April 1, 
2001, this Order shall become null and

[[Page 31939]]

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), 
license amendments 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. The 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 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.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian W. Sheron,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
William F. Kane,
Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 00-12619 Filed 5-18-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P