11934 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 49 / Thursday, March 13, 1997 / Notices

Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC

20555

All correspondence, documents and

other materials shall be filed with the

Judges in accordance with 10 CFR

2.701.

Issued at Rockville, MD, this 7th day of

March 1997.

B. Paul Cotter, Jr.,

Chief Administrative Judge, Atomic Safety

and Licensing Board Panel.

[FR Doc. 97–6340 Filed 3–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–M

[Docket No. 50–344]

Portland General Electric Company

(Trojan Nuclear Plant); Order

Approving Application Regarding the

Planned Merger of Portland General

Corporation, the Parent Holding

Company for Portland General Electric,

With Enron Corporation

I

Portland General Electric Company

(PGE or the licensee) owns a 67.5-

percent interest in the Trojan Nuclear

Plant (TNP) located on the west bank of

the Columbia River in Columbia

County, Oregon. PGE holds Facility

Operating License No. NPF–1 issued by

the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) pursuant to Part 50

of Title 10 of the Code of Federal

Regulations (10 CFR Part 50) on

November 21, 1975. Under this license,

PGE has the authority to possess and

maintain but not operate TNP. PGE is

currently a wholly owned subsidiary of

Portland General Corporation (PGC).

II

By letter dated August 20, 1996, as

supplemented by letters dated October

16, 1996, and October 30, 1996, PGE

informed the Commission that PGE’s

parent company, PGC, has agreed to a

merger with Enron Corporation (Enron),

subject to certain conditions. Those

conditions include approval by the

shareholders of the companies and

obtaining appropriate governmental

approvals which do not impose terms or

conditions that would be reasonably

likely to have an adverse effect on PGE

or Enron.

In the August 20, 1996, submittal, as

supplemented by letters dated October

16, 1996, and October 30, 1996, PGE

requested the Commission’s consent to

the planned merger to the extent

necessary under Sections 81, 101, and

184 of the Atomic Energy Act, and

under 10 CFR 50.80 and 10 CFR 30.34.

Notice of this application was published

in the Federal Register on January 16,

1997 (62 FR 2399). Under the agreement

and plan of merger, the businesses of

Enron and PGC would be combined by

means of the reincorporation of Enron

as an Oregon corporation through the

merger of Enron with and into a wholly

owned Enron subsidiary (hereinafter

referred to as the ‘‘Merger Company’’),

and the merger of PGC into the Merger

Company. The shareholders of Enron

will become shareholders of the Merger

Company, and likewise the shareholders

of PGC will become shareholders of the

Merger Company on a one-for-one basis.

The Merger Company will be known as

Enron. PGE will continue to be

headquartered in Portland, Oregon and

senior management will remain in

place. The merger will not affect PGE’s

status as a regulated public utility in the

State of Oregon. After the merger, PGE

will continue to be the NRC licensee for

TNP and no direct transfer of the

operating license or interests in the unit

will result from the merger. Direct

control of the possession-only license

for TNP now held by PGE and its coowners will remain with PGE and the

same co-owners, and will not be

affected by the planned merger.

Under 10 CFR 50.80, no license 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

letter of August 20, 1996, and

supplemental letters dated October 16,

1996, and October 30, 1996, and other

information before the Commission, the

NRC staff has determined that the

proposed merger will not affect the

qualifications of PGE as holder of the

license, and that the transfer of control

of the license for TNP, to the extent

effected by the merger, is otherwise

consistent with applicable provisions of

law, regulations, and orders issued by

the Commission, subject to the

conditions set forth herein. These

findings are supported by a safety

evaluation dated March 6, 1997.

An Environmental Assessment and

Finding of No Significant Impact was

published in the Federal Register on

March 5, 1997 (62 FR 10094).

III

Accordingly, pursuant to Sections

161b, 161i, 161o, and 184 of the Atomic

Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42

USC 2201(b), 2201(i), 2201(o) and 2234,

and 10 CFR 50.80, it is hereby ordered

that the Commission approves the

application regarding the merger

agreement between PGC and Enron

subject to the following: (1) PGE shall

continue to fund its decommissioning

trust funds in accordance with the

schedule stated in the licensee’s PostShutdown Decommissioning Activities

Report (PSDAR), and (2) PGE will

provide the Director, NRR, with at least

60 days prior notice of a transfer

(excluding grants of security interests or

liens), from PGE to its parent or to any

other affiliated company, of facilities for

the production, transmission, or

distribution of electric energy having a

depreciated book value exceeding 10

percent of PGE’s consolidated net utility

plant, as recorded on PGE’s books of

account; provided, however, this

condition (2) shall not apply once (a)

PGE has completed all major

decommissioning activities, as that term

is defined in 10 CFR 50.2, or (b) PGE’s

external decommissioning trust fund

has been funded in an amount sufficient

to pay PGE’s share of site radiological

decommissioning costs as estimated in

the PSDAR. Any such notice to the

Director, NRR, shall be exempt from

public disclosure to the extent

permitted by the NRC’s regulations

implementing the Freedom of

Information Act. In addition, should the

merger between PGC and Enron not be

consummated by December 31, 1997,

this Order shall become null and void,

provided, however, an application and

for good cause shown, such date may be

extended.

This Order is effective upon issuance.

IV

By April 14, 1997, any person

adversely affected by this Order may file

a request for a hearing with respect to

issuance of the Order. Any person

requesting a hearing shall set forth with

particularity how that interest is

adversely affected by this Order and

shall address the criteria set forth in 10

CFR 2.714(d).

If a hearing is to be held, the

Commission will issue an order

designating the time and place of such

hearing.

The issue to be considered at any

such hearing shall be whether this

Order should be sustained.

Any request for a hearing must be

filed with the Secretary of the

Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001, Attention: Docketing and Services

Branch, or may be delivered to 11555

Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland

between 7:45 am and 4:15 pm Federal

workdays, by the above date. Copies

should be also sent to the Office of the

General Counsel and to the Director,

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation,

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555–0001, and to Mr.

Douglas R. Nichols, Esq., Assistant

General Counsel PGE, 121 S.W. Salmon
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 49 / Thursday, March 13, 1997 / Notices 11935

Street, Suite 1300, Portland, Oregon

97204.

For further details with respect to this

Order, see PGE’s application dated

August 20, 1996, and supplemental

letters dated October 16, 1996, and

October 30, 1996, which are available

for public inspection at the

Commission’s Public Document Room,

Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C., and at the TNP local

public document room located at the

Branford Price Millar Library, Portland

State University, Portland, Oregon

97207.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day

of March 1997.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Samuel J. Collins,

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 97–6344 Filed 3–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

[Docket NO. 50–72]

Environmental Assessment and

Finding of No Significant Impact

Regarding Termination of Amended

Facility Operating License No. R–25

University of Utah AGN–201 Research

Reactor

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is considering

issuance of an Order terminating

Amended Facility Operating License

No. R–25 for the University of Utah (the

licensee) AGN–201 Research Reactor

(AGN–201) located on the licensee’s

campus in Salt Lake City, Utah, in

accordance with the application dated

July 17, 1990, as supplemented on July

18, 1990, June 12, 1991, April 13, 1994,

and March 17 and 22, 1995, and

February 6, 1996.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

By application dated July 17, 1990, as

supplemented on July 18, 1990, and

June 12, 1991, the licensee requested

authorization to dismantle the AGN–201

and dispose of its component parts in

accordance with the proposed

decommissioning plan. The application

of July 17, 1990, also requested

authorization to terminate Amended

Facility Operating License No. R–25.

Following an ‘‘Order Authorizing

Dismantling of Facility and Disposition

of Component Parts,’’ dated August 1,

1991, (56 FR 37733), the licensee

completed the dismantlement and

submitted a final survey report dated

April 13, 1994, as supplemented on

March 17 and 22, 1995, and February 6,

1996. Representatives of the Oak Ridge

Institute for Science and Education

(ORISE), under contract to NRC,

conducted a survey of the reactor on

April 9, 1996. The survey is

documented in an ORISE report,

‘‘Radiological Survey of the University

of Utah AGN–201M Research Reactor,

Salt Lake City, Utah,’’ dated June 1996.

In a memorandum dated July 15, 1996,

NRC Region IV found that the ORISE

report findings support the data

developed in the licensee’s final survey

report.

Because the AGN–201 is in the same

room as the TRIGA Research Reactor

(Docket No. 50–407, Facility Operating

License No. R–126) that the University

continues to operate, the Reactor Room

of the Merrill Engineering Building will

continue to be subject to the terms of the

TRIGA license. There is no site being

released for unrestricted use by this

action. Only the remaining reactor

component parts possessed under

Amended Facility Operating License

No. R–25 are being released for

unrestricted use by this license

termination. The Reactor Room will be

considered for release by NRC as part of

the request to terminate the TRIGA

license at some time in the future.

Because the site will continue to be

used under a NRC license and will be

surveyed in the future, and because

application of the regulation is not

necessary to achieve the underlying

purpose of the rule, the NRC, in a

separate action, is considering granting,

upon its own initiative, a specific

exemption in accordance with 10 CFR

50.12 to the part of the requirements of

10 CFR 50.82(b)(6)(ii) that requires a

terminal radiation survey and associated

documentation to demonstrate that the

site is suitable for release as a condition

for license termination.

The Need for Proposed Action

In order to release the remaining

reactor components for unrestricted use,

Amended Facility Operating License

No. R–25 must be terminated.

Environmental Impact of License

Termination

The licensee indicates that the

residual contamination and dose

exposures comply with the criteria of

Regulatory Guide 1.86, Table 1, which

establish acceptable residual surface

contamination levels, and the exposure

limit, established by the NRC staff, of

less than 5 micro rem/hr above

background at 1 meter. These

measurements have been verified by the

NRC staff. The NRC finds that since

these criteria have been met, there is no

significant impact on the environment

and the reactor components can be

released for unrestricted use and the

license terminated. Because the site will

continue to be subject to an NRC

license, terminating Operating License

No. R–25 will have no effect on the

status of the site and thus, has no

significant impact on the environment.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

As an alternative to the proposed

action, the staff considered denying the

proposed action. Denying the

application for license termination

would result in no change in current

environmental impacts and would deny

release of the remaining reactor

components for unrestricted use and

require continuance of the facility

license. The environmental impacts of

the proposed action and of the

alternative action are similar. Since the

contaminated and activated reactor and

component parts have been dismantled

and disposed of in accordance with

NRC regulations and guidelines, there is

no alternative with less environmental

impact than the termination of

Amended Facility Operating License

No. R–25.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

The staff consulted with personnel

from ORISE (an NRC contractor), who

conducted the confirmatory survey for

the AGN–201. The staff also consulted

with the Utah State official regarding

the environmental impact of the

proposed action. The State official had

no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

The NRC has determined not to

prepare an environmental impact

statement for the proposed action. On

the basis of the foregoing environmental

assessment, the NRC has concluded that

the issuance of the Order will have no

significant effect on the quality of the

human environment.

For further details with respect to this

proposed action, see the application for

termination of Amended Facility

Operating License No. R–25, dated July

17, 1990, as supplemented. These

documents are available for public

inspection at the Commission’s Public

Document Room, 2120 L Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20037.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day

of March 1997.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Seymour H. Weiss,

Director, Non-Power Reactors and

Decommissioning Project Directorate,

Division of Reactor Program Management,

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 97–6341 Filed 3–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P