In the Matter of Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc; Entergy Nuclear Indian Point 2, LLC; (Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit No. 1); Order Approving Indirect Transfer of Facility Operating License, 45255-45256 [E8-17784]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 150 (Monday, August 4, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45255-45256]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-17784]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-003]


In the Matter of Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc; Entergy Nuclear 
Indian Point 2, LLC; (Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit No. 1); 
Order Approving Indirect Transfer of Facility Operating License

I

    Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (ENO) and Entergy Nuclear Indian 
Point 2, LLC (ENIP2) are co-holders of the Facility Operating License, 
No. DPR-5, which authorizes the possession of the Indian Point Nuclear 
Generating Unit No. 1 (IP1). IP1 is a pressurized water nuclear reactor 
that is owned by ENIP2 and maintained by ENO. IP1 was permanently shut 
down in 1974 and placed in a safe storage condition pending 
decommissioning. The facility is located in Westchester County, New 
York.

II

    By application dated July 30, 2007, as supplemented by letters 
dated October 31, and December 5, 2007, and January 24, March 17, April 
22, and May 2, 2008, ENO, acting on behalf of itself and ENIP2, 
requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the 
Commission), pursuant to Section 50.80 of Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), consent to the proposed indirect transfer 
of control of the IP1 license.
    ENIP2 is currently a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Entergy 
Nuclear Holding Company 3, LLC. Entergy Nuclear Holding 
Company 3, LLC is a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Entergy 
Nuclear Holding Company which, in turn, is a direct wholly owned 
subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Therefore, under the current 
corporate structure, Entergy Corporation is the indirect owner of 100 
percent of ENIP2.
    Under the proposed corporate restructuring, a new holding company, 
Enexus Energy Corporation (Enexus), will be created. Initially, the 
shareholders of Entergy Corporation will separately own the shares of 
Enexus and, as such, Enexus will be owned by the public. Entergy 
Nuclear Holding Company will become a direct wholly owned subsidiary of 
Enexus. Accordingly, following the corporate restructuring, Enexus will 
acquire indirect control of 100 percent of ENIP2.
    ENO is currently a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Entergy 
Nuclear Holding Company 2 which, in turn, is a direct wholly 
owned subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Therefore, Entergy Corporation 
is currently the indirect owner of 100 percent of ENO.
    Under the proposed corporate restructuring, Entergy Nuclear Holding 
Company 2 will be eliminated and ENO will become a direct 
subsidiary of a new parent company called EquaGen LLC. EquaGen LLC will 
be owned in equal shares by two new intermediate holding companies as 
follows. Entergy EquaGen, Inc. is being created as a direct subsidiary 
of Entergy Corporation and will own 50 percent of EquaGen LLC. 
Similarly, Enexus EquaGen, LLC is being created as a direct subsidiary 
of Enexus and will also own 50 percent of EquaGen LLC. Accordingly, 
following the corporate restructuring, Entergy Corporation and Enexus 
will each have indirect control of 50 percent of ENO.
    Finally, ENO will be converted from a corporation to a limited 
liability company and its name will be changed from Entergy Nuclear 
Operations, Inc. to EquaGen Nuclear LLC. Under Delaware law, EquaGen 
Nuclear LLC will assume all of the rights and responsibilities of ENO, 
and it will be the same company (legal entity) both before and after 
the conversion and name change. Also, ENIP2 will undergo a name change 
to become Enexus Nuclear Indian Point 2, LLC. The staff understands 
that ENO will request an administrative license amendment to conform 
the IP1 license in the near future.
    Notice of the request for approval and an opportunity for a hearing 
was published in the Federal Register on January 16, 2008 (73 FR 2955). 
By petition dated February 5, 2008, Locals 369 and 590, Utility Workers 
Union of America (UWUA), American Federation of Labor-Congress of 
Industrial Organization, representing plant workers at the Pilgrim 
Nuclear Power Station located in Plymouth, Massachusetts, responded to 
the Federal Register notice and requested a hearing and leave to 
intervene as a party in the proceedings for the Indian Point Nuclear 
Generating Unit No. 1. On June 12, 2008, Local 369 filed a notice of 
withdrawal of its petition to intervene. The notice of withdrawal did 
not apply to Local 590. In addition, by petition dated February 5, 
2008, the Westchester Citizen's Awareness Network, Rockland County 
Conservation Association, Promoting Health and Sustainable Energy, 
Sierra Club--North East Chapter, and Richard Brodsky collectively filed 
a request for hearing and petition for leave to intervene as a party in 
the proceedings for the Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit No. 1.
    Both of these requests for hearings are currently pending before 
the Commission. Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.1316, during the pendency of a 
hearing, the staff is expected to promptly proceed with the approval or 
denial of license transfer requests consistent with the staff's 
findings in its safety evaluation. Notice of the staff's action shall 
be promptly transmitted to the presiding officer and parties to the 
proceeding. Commission action on the pending hearing requests is being 
handled independently of this action.
    Also, an intervenor from Oswego, New York, submitted two letters to 
the Commission with public comments dated January 21, 2008, along with 
an electronic transmission containing public comments dated January 27, 
2008. The public comments are addressed by the NRC's safety evaluation 
dated July 28, 2008.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80(a), 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 as 
supplemented and other information before the Commission, and relying 
upon the representations and agreements in the application as 
supplemented, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed indirect 
transfer of control of the license held by ENIP2 to Enexus, as 
described herein, will not affect the qualifications of ENIP2 as

[[Page 45256]]

holder of the IP1 license. The indirect transfer of control of the 
license is otherwise consistent with applicable provisions of law, 
regulations, and orders issued by the NRC. Furthermore, the NRC staff 
concludes that the proposed corporate restructuring involving new 
intermediate and ultimate parent companies over ENO, as described 
herein, will not affect the qualifications of ENO as holder of the IP1 
license. The indirect transfer of control of the license as held by 
ENO, to the extent affected by the proposed restructuring, is otherwise 
consistent with applicable provisions of law, regulations, and orders 
issued by the Commission.
    The NRC staff concludes that the conversion of Entergy Nuclear 
Operations, Inc. to EquaGen Nuclear LLC would not constitute a direct 
transfer of the licenses to the extent held by ENO. Therefore, no 
consent to the proposed conversion is necessary.
    The findings set forth above are supported by the NRC's safety 
evaluation dated July 28, 2008.

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 
application regarding the indirect license transfer discussed above 
related to the proposed corporate restructuring and establishment of 
Enexus is approved, subject to the following conditions:
    1. ENIP2 shall enter into the $700 million Support Agreement with 
Enexus Energy Corporation as described in the application, no later 
than the time the proposed transactions and indirect license transfer 
occurs. ENIP2 shall take no action to cause Enexus Energy Corporation, 
or its successors and assigns, to void, cancel, or modify the Support 
Agreement or cause it to fail to perform, or impair its performance 
under the Support Agreement, without prior written consent of the NRC. 
The Support Agreement may not be amended or modified without 30 days 
prior written notice to the Director of the Office of Federal and State 
Materials and Environmental Management Programs or his designee. An 
executed copy of the Support Agreement shall be submitted to the NRC no 
later than 30 days after the completion of the proposed transactions 
and the indirect license transfer. ENIP2 shall inform the NRC in 
writing anytime it draws upon the Support Agreement.
    2. The ten separate support guarantees from various Entergy 
subsidiaries, which total $315 million, including the support guarantee 
relating to IP1, may be revoked when, and conditioned upon, 
implementation of the new $700 million Support Agreement at the time 
the proposed restructuring and indirect license transfer are completed.
    3. Should the proposed corporate restructuring and establishment of 
Enexus not be completed within one year from the date of this Order, 
this Order shall become null and void, provided, however, upon written 
application and good cause shown, such date may be extended by Order.
    This Order is effective upon issuance.
    For further details with respect to this Order, see the application 
dated July 30, 2007, as supplemented by letters dated October 31, and 
December 5, 2007, and January 24, March 17, April 22, and May 2, 2008, 
and the NRC's safety evaluation dated July 28, 2008, which are 
available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document 
Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area 01 F21, 
11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland and accessible 
electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the 
NRC Web site, https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do 
not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the 
documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff 
by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to 
pdr@nrc.gov.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of July 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Charles L. Miller,
Director, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental 
Management Programs.
[FR Doc. E8-17784 Filed 8-1-08; 8:45 am]
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