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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

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  [Federal Register: May 19, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 98)]
[Notices]
[Page 31938-31939]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19my00-86]

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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

 
 

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