[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 249 (Friday, December 28, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67331-67332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-31926]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-413, Docket No. 50-414, License No. NPF-35, and License 
No. NPF-52]


Duke Energy Corporation, North Carolina Electric Membership 
Corporation, Saluda River Electric Cooperative, Inc., North Carolina 
Municipal Power Agency No. 1, Piedmont Municipal Power Agency, (Catawba 
Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2); Order Approving Transfer of Operating 
Authority and Conforming Amendments

    Duke Energy Corporation (Duke Energy, or DEC), the North Carolina 
Electric Membership Corporation, and the Saluda River Electric 
Cooperative, Inc. are the holders of Facility Operating License No. 
NPF-35, which authorizes operation of the Catawba Nuclear Station, Unit 
1. DEC, the North Carolina Municipal Power Agency No. 1, and the 
Piedmont Municipal Power Agency are the holders of Facility Operating 
License No. NPF-52, which authorizes operation of the Catawba Nuclear 
Station, Unit 2. The Catawba Nuclear Station (Catawba or the facility) 
is located in York County, South Carolina.
    By application dated July 10, 2001, as supplemented by letters 
dated October 31, November 1 and 26, and December 10, 2001, 
(collectively referred to herein as ``the application'' unless 
otherwise indicated), the Commission was informed that DEC, the sole 
licensed operator of both Catawba units, proposes to enter into an 
Operation and Maintenance Services Agreement with Duke Energy Nuclear, 
LLC (Duke Nuclear), and transfer operating authority under the licenses 
to Duke Nuclear. Under the proposed transaction, Duke Nuclear, which 
will be a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of DEC, will become a new 
licensee, exclusively authorized to operate Catawba in accordance with 
the terms and conditions of the licenses. The transaction involves no 
change in facility ownership, which is as follows: DEC owns 25%, the 
North Carolina Membership Corporation owns 56.25%, and the Saluda River 
Electric Cooperative owns 18.75% of Catawba Unit 1, and the North 
Carolina Municipal Power agency No. 1 owns 75% and Piedmont Municipal 
Power Agency owns 25% of Catawba Unit 2.\1\
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    \1\ DEC does not have an ownership interest in Catawba Unit 2, 
but nonetheless is a holder of the Unit 2 license in connection with 
the operating authority granted to DEC under that license.
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    DEC requested approval of the proposed transfer of operating 
authority under the Catawba licenses to Duke Nuclear pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.80. The application also requested approval of conforming amendments 
pursuant to 10 CFR 50.90 to reflect the transfer. The proposed 
amendments would add Duke Nuclear to the licenses and reflect that Duke 
Nuclear is exclusively authorized to operate Catawba.
    Notice of the application for approval and an opportunity for a 
hearing was published in the Federal Register on September 25, 2001 (66 
FR 49050). No hearing requests or written comments were received.
    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, and other 
information before the Commission, and relying upon the representations 
and agreements contained in the application, the NRC staff has 
determined that Duke Nuclear is qualified to hold the operating 
authority under the licenses, and that the transfer of the operating 
authority under the licenses to Duke Nuclear 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 (the Act), 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 
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 December 20, 2001.
    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 licenses, as described herein, to Duke Nuclear is 
approved, subject to the following conditions:
    (1) Duke Nuclear shall, prior to completion of the transfer of 
operating authority for Catawba, provide the Director of the Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation satisfactory documentary evidence that Duke 
Nuclear has obtained the appropriate amount of insurance required of 
licensees under 10 CFR part 140 of the Commission's regulations.
    (2) After receipt of all required regulatory approvals of the 
transfer of operating authority to Duke Nuclear, DEC and Duke Nuclear 
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 no later than 2 business days prior to the 
date of closing. If the transfer is not completed by December 31, 2002, 
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), 
license amendments that make changes, as

[[Page 67332]]

indicated in Enclosure 2 to the cover letter forwarding this Order, to 
conform the licenses to reflect the subject transfer of operating 
authority are approved. The amendments 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 July 10, 2001, the supplemental letters dated October 
31, November 1 and 26, and December 10, 2001, and the Safety Evaluation 
dated December 20, 2001, which are available for public inspection at 
the Commission's Public Document Room, located at One White Flint 
North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. 
Publicly available records will be accessible from the Agencywide 
Documents Access and Management Systems (ADAMS) Public Electronic 
Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of December, 2001.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian W. Sheron,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-31926 Filed 12-27-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P