In the Matter of Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 3 & 4); Order Approving Transfer of License and Conforming Amendment, 26271-26272 [2014-10511]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 88 (Wednesday, May 7, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26271-26272]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10511]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2008-0252; Docket Nos. 52-025 & 52-026; Combined License Nos. NPF-
91 & NPF-92]


In the Matter of Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (Vogtle 
Electric Generating Plant, Units 3 & 4); Order Approving Transfer of 
License and Conforming Amendment

I

    Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal 
Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power), the City of Dalton, GA, an 
incorporated municipality in the state of Georgia citing by and through 
its Board of Water, Light and Sinking Fund Commissioners (City of 
Dalton), and Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. (SNC) 
(collectively, the owners) are holders of Combined License (COL) Nos. 
NPF-91 and NPF-92. These combined licenses authorize SNC to construct, 
possess, use, and operate Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (VEGP), 
Units 3 and 4 and the owners to possess but not operate VEGP, Units 3 
and 4. The facility (which is currently under construction) is located 
adjacent to existing VEGP, Units 1 and 2 on a 3,169-acre coastal plain 
bluff on the southwest side of the Savannah River in eastern Burke 
County, GA. The facility is approximately 15 miles east-northeast of 
Waynesboro, GA, and 26 miles southeast of Augusta, GA.

II

    By letter dated December 2, 2013, SNC on behalf of MEAG Power and 
MEAG Power Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) M, LLC; MEAG Power SPVJ, LLC; 
and MEAG Power SPVP, LLC (The Project Companies) submitted an 
application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or 
Commission) requesting approval of three direct transfers of portions 
of MEAG Power's 22.7 percent undivided ownership interest in VEGP, 
Units 3 and 4. Each of these three transfers may occur independently of 
or in conjunction with the others, as follows:
    1. The transfer of a 7.6886571 percent undivided interest in VEGP, 
Units 3 and 4 from MEAG Power to MEAG Power SPVM, LLC (Project M);
    2. The transfer of a 9.3466423 percent undivided interest in VEGP, 
Units 3 and 4 from MEAG Power to MEAG Power SPVJ, LLC (Project J); and
    3. The transfer of a 5.6647006 percent undivided interest in VEGP, 
Units 3 and 4 from MEAG Power to MEAG Power SPVP, LCC (Project P).
    The application is in connection with the finalization of three 
loans from the U.S. Federal Finance Bank (U.S. FFB) or one or more 
third party lenders to be guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Energy 
(DOE) through its loan guarantee program for the development of 
advanced nuclear energy facilities.
    SNC on behalf of MEAG Power provided supplemental information by 
letters dated December 12, 2013 and April 17, 2014 (hereinafter, this 
document will refer to the December 2, 2013, application, and the 
December 12, 2013, and April 17, 2014, supplemental information 
collectively as the ``application''). The application did not request 
any physical changes to the facility or operational changes. After 
completion of the proposed transfers one or all of MEAG Power SPVM, 
MEAG Power SPVJ, and MEAG Power SPVP would own the prescribed portion 
of MEAG Power's currently undivided 22.7 percent ownership interest in 
VEGP, Units 3 and 4. SNC would remain the licensed operator of VEGP, 
Units 3 and 4.
    The applicants also requested approval of a conforming license 
amendment that would replace references to MEAG Power in the license 
with the appropriate references to the Project Companies based on which 
of the transfers was finalized, to reflect the transfer of ownership.
    The applicants requested approval of the transfer of the COL and 
conforming license amendment under the regulations of Title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section 52.105, ``Transfer of 
Combined Licenses,'' 10 CFR 50.80, ``Transfer of License,'' and 10 CFR 
50.90, ``Application for Amendment of License, Construction Permit, or 
Early Site Permit.'' Notice of the request for approval and opportunity 
for a hearing was published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2014 
(79 FR 3420). No comments were received. No petitions for leave to 
intervene or requests for hearing pursuant to 10 CFR 2.309 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 Project Companies are qualified to hold the 
aforementioned specific percentage of ownership interest in the 
facility previously held by MEAG Power, and that the transfer of 
ownership interests described in the application 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 amendment 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 applications, the provisions of the Act, 
and the rules and regulations of the Commission; there is reasonable 
assurance that the activities authorized by the proposed conforming 
license amendment 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 amendment will not be inimical to the common defense 
and security or to the health and safety of the public; and the 
issuance of the proposed amendment will be in accordance with 10 CFR 
Part 51 of the

[[Page 26272]]

Commission's regulations and all applicable requirements have been 
satisfied.
    The findings set forth above are supported by an NRC safety 
evaluation dated April 29, 2014.

III

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, and 184 of the Act, 
42 U.S.C. Sections 2201(b), 2201(i), and 2234; and 10 CFR 50.80, it is 
hereby ordered that the three specific transfers of the license, as 
described herein, to MEAG Power SPVM; MEAG Power SPVJ; and MEAG Power 
SPVP are approved, subject to the following conditions:
    (1) Prior to completion of the transfer of the license, MEAG Power 
SPVM; MEAG Power SPVJ, and/or MEAG Power SPVP, as appropriate, shall 
provide the Director of the Office of New Reactors (NRO) satisfactory 
documentary evidence that it has obtained the appropriate amount of 
insurance required of a licensee under 10 CFR Part 140 of the 
Commission's regulations.
    (2) At the time of the transfer, MEAG Power, MEAG Power SPVM, MEAG 
Power SPVJ, and/or MEAG Power SPVP shall establish and maintain 
separate trusts for Vogtle, Units 3 and 4 for the purposes of providing 
decommissioning funding assurance. The trusts will comply with the 
requirements of 10 CFR 50.75. The share of responsibility for the 
decommissioning funding shall be determined by the share of ownership 
each holds following the transfer.
    It is further ordered that, consistent with 10 CFR 2.1315(b), all 
of the potential license amendments that make changes, as indicated in 
Enclosure 2 and Enclosure 3 to the cover letter forwarding this Order, 
to conform the licenses to reflect the subject direct license transfer 
are approved. It should be noted that only the license amendment that 
properly reflects the transfer as it occurs will be issued, rendering 
the approval of the remaining combinations moot.
    It is further ordered that MEAG Power shall inform the Director of 
NRO in writing of the date of closing of the transfer of MEAG Power's 
22.7 percent undivided ownership interest in VEGP Units 3 and 4, at 
least one business day prior to closing. Should the transfer of the 
license not be completed within one year of this Order's date of issue, 
this Order shall become null and void, provided, however, that upon 
written application and for 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 initial 
application dated December 2, 2013, as supplemented by letters dated 
December 12, 2013 and April 17, 2014, and the safety evaluation dated 
April 29, 2014, which are available for public inspection at the 
Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint 
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21 (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 email at pdr@nrc.gov.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 29th day of April 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Glenn M. Tracy,
Director, Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2014-10511 Filed 5-6-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P