Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 98 / Friday, May 19, 2000 / Notices 31937

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.

31938 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 98 / Friday, May 19, 2000 / Notices

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

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