[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 3, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33208-33209]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-13866]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-275 and 50-323]
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power
Plant, Units 1 and 2); Order Approving Transfer of Licenses and
Conforming Amendments
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E or the licensee) is the
holder of Facility Operating Licenses Nos. DPR-80 and DPR-82, which
authorize the operation of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, Units
1 and 2 (DCNPP or the facility) at steady-state power levels not in
excess of 3411 megawatts thermal. The facility is located at the
licensee's site in San Luis Obispo County, California. The licenses
authorize PG&E to possess, use, and operate the facility.
Under cover of a letter dated November 30, 2001, PG&E submitted an
application requesting approval of the transfer of Facility Operating
Licenses Nos. DPR-80 and DPR-82 for DCNPP from PG&E to Electric
Generation LLC and Diablo Canyon LLC. The licensee also requested
approval of conforming license amendments to reflect the transfer. The
application was supplemented by submittals dated January 18 and May 1,
2002, collectively referred to as the ``application'' herein unless
otherwise indicated.
Diablo Canyon LLC, a California limited liability company, is a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Electric Generation LLC, also a California
limited liability company. Electric Generation LLC is an indirect
wholly-owned subsidiary of PG&E Corporation, the current parent of the
licensee. According to the application, Diablo Canyon LLC will become
the owner of the facility, while Electric Generation LLC will operate
and maintain DCNPP under the terms of a lease that will make Electric
Generation LLC responsible for all costs of operation. Diablo Canyon
LLC will be responsible for providing decommissioning funding assurance
for DCNPP. With respect to authority to possess, use, and operate the
facility, the conforming license amendments would remove references to
PG&E from the licenses and add references to Electric Generation LLC
and Diablo Canyon LLC, as appropriate, and make other administrative
changes to reflect the proposed transfer. The application also proposed
certain changes to the antitrust conditions attached to the licenses,
which are discussed in more detail below.
PG&E requested approval of the transfer of the licenses and
conforming license amendments pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80 and 50.90.
Notice of the request for approval and an opportunity to request a
hearing or submit written comments was published in the Federal
Register on January 17, 2002 (67 FR 2455). The Commission received
petitions to intervene and requests for hearing from the following: the
Northern California Power Agency (NCPA); the Official Committee of
Unsecured Creditors of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (Committee);
the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC); the Transmission
Agency of Northern California, M-S-R Public Power Agency, Modesto
Irrigation District, the California Cities of Santa Clara, Redding, and
Palo Alto, and the Trinity Public Utility District, in a joint filing
(collectively, TANC); and the County of San Luis Obispo (County). In a
Memorandum and Order, dated June 25, 2002 (CLI-02-16), the Commission
denied several of the petitioners' requests for intervention and
referred the petitions of the County and CPUC to the NRC staff as
comments for appropriate consideration. On February 14, 2003, the
Commission denied the remaining petitioners' requests for hearing and
terminated the proceeding. Pacific Gas and Elec. Co. (Diablo Canyon
Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2), CLI-03-02, 57 NRC 19 (2003).
In CLI-03-02, the Commission addressed, among other things, the
changes proposed in the application to the antitrust conditions
appended to the licenses, which PG&E assumed would be carried forward
if the licenses were transferred. These proposed changes would have
retained PG&E as a licensee in the antitrust conditions, would have
added a new transmission company (ETrans LLC) to the antitrust
conditions, and would have added Electric Generation LLC (but not
Diablo Canyon LLC) to the conditions, for the purpose of implementing
the conditions. The Commission ruled that if the proposed license
transfers are approved, the antitrust license conditions should not be
included in (i.e., not remain part of) the transferred licenses. 57 NRC
at 36. Accordingly, the conforming license amendments approved by this
Order reflect the Commission's ruling in this regard.
Under 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 gives its consent in writing. After
reviewing the information submitted 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 Electric Generation LLC and Diablo Canyon LLC are
qualified to be the holders of the licenses to the extent proposed in
the application, and that the transfer of the licenses to Electric
Generation LLC and Diablo Canyon LLC 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 that reflect the transfer of authority to possess, use, and
operate the facility and the transfer of authority concerning the
receipt, possession, or use of nuclear material from PG&E to Electric
Generation LLC and Diablo Canyon LLC 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
I; 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 concerning the possession, use, and
operation of the facility and concerning the receipt, possession, or
use of nuclear material 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 concerning the possession, use, and
operation of the facility and concerning the receipt, possession, or
use of nuclear material will not be inimical to the common defense and
security or the health and safety of the public; and the issuance of
the proposed license amendments concerning the possession, use, and
operation of the facility and concerning the receipt, possession, or
use of nuclear material will be in accordance with 10 CFR part 51 of
the Commission's regulations and all applicable requirements have been
satisfied. The findings set forth above
[[Page 33209]]
are supported by the NRC staff's safety evaluation dated May 27, 2003.
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 licenses as described herein to Electric Generation LLC
and Diablo Canyon LLC is approved, subject to the following conditions:
(1) Before the completion of the transfer of DCNPP, Electric
Generation LLC and Diablo Canyon LLC shall provide the Director of the
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation satisfactory documentary evidence
that Electric Generation LLC and Diablo Canyon LLC have obtained the
appropriate amount of insurance required of licensees under 10 CFR part
140 of the Commission's regulations.
(2) Prior to the closing of the license transfers, all necessary
regulatory and/or judicial approvals of the bilateral power sales
agreement (PSA) referenced in Enclosure 7 to the November 30, 2001,
submittal must be obtained without any material changes to the PSA that
would adversely impact the five-year financial projections proffered in
the application such that indicated sources of funds would not be
sufficient to cover projected costs of operation of the facility.
(3) On the closing date of the transfer of DCNPP, Diablo Canyon LLC
shall obtain from PG&E all of the accumulated decommissioning trust
funds associated with the facility, and ensure the deposit of the funds
into a decommissioning trust(s) for DCNPP established by Diablo Canyon
LLC. The amount of the funds must meet or exceed the minimum amount
required for the facility pursuant to 10 CFR 50.75. In the event that
the transfer of DCNPP occurs prior to December 24, 2003, the
decommissioning trust agreement(s) shall be consistent with the
provisions contained in 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1) (67 FR 78350, published
December 24, 2002), as if such provisions are in effect at the time of
transfer. Notwithstanding the date of the transfer, the decommissioning
trust agreement(s) must be acceptable to the NRC.
(4) Diablo Canyon LLC shall take all necessary steps to ensure that
the decommissioning trust(s) is maintained in accordance with the
application and the requirements of this Order, and consistent with the
safety evaluation supporting this Order.
(5) Notwithstanding the transfer of ownership of DCNPP to Diablo
Canyon LLC, Electric Generation LLC shall at all times following the
transfer of the DCNPP licenses to Diablo Canyon LLC and Electric
Generation LLC be fully responsible for all costs associated with the
possession, use, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of DCNPP
(including costs associated with the receipt, possession, and use of
byproduct, source, and special nuclear material), except for
decommissioning costs covered by the decommissioning trust funds
transferred to Diablo Canyon LLC at the time of the license transfers.
Diablo Canyon LLC shall be responsible for the payment of
decommissioning costs for DCNPP at least to the extent of the
accumulated decommissioning trust funds transferred to Diablo Canyon
LLC and earnings associated with such funds.
(6) Electric Generation LLC 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 Electric Generation LLC to its direct or indirect
parent, or to any other affiliated company, facilities for the
production of electric energy having a depreciated book value exceeding
ten percent (10%) of Electric Generation LLC's consolidated net utility
plant, as recorded on Electric Generation LLC's books of account.
(7) After receipt of all required regulatory and judicial approvals
of the transfer of DCNPP, PG&E shall inform the Director of the Office
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation in writing of such receipt within 5
business days, and of the closing date of the transfer of DCNPP no
later than 7 business days prior to the date of closing. If the
transfer of the licenses is not completed by May 31, 2004, this Order
shall become null and void, provided, however, on written application
and for good cause shown, this date may be extended in writing.
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 Order, see the initial
application dated November 30, 2001, and supplements thereto dated
January 18 and May 1, 2002, and the safety evaluation dated May 27,
2003, 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, and are accessible
electronically through the ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room link at
the NRC Web site (http://www.nrc.gov).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of May 2003.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
R. William Borchardt,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 03-13866 Filed 6-2-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P