In the Matter of Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation; Wolf Creek Generating Station, Unit 1, 12616-12617 [2018-05873]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 56 (Thursday, March 22, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12616-12617]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05873]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-482; License No. NPF-42; NRC-2017-0217]


In the Matter of Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation; Wolf 
Creek Generating Station, Unit 1

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Indirect transfer of license; order.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
order approving indirect license transfer of control of Renewed 
Facility Operating License No. NPF-42 for the Wolf Creek Generating 
Station, Unit 1 (WCGS). The indirect transfer of control will result 
from the proposed merger of two indirect owners of Wolf Creek Nuclear 
Operating Corporation (WCNOC) and WCGS--Westar Energy, Inc. and Great 
Plains Energy Incorporated, and subsidiaries created to effectuate the 
transaction. The new entity, Monarch Energy Holding, Inc., through its 
subsidiaries, will have a 94 percent interest in WCNOC and WCGS. The 
remaining 6 percent ownership interest in WCNOC and WCGS held by Kansas 
Electric Power Cooperative, Inc., will be unaffected. WCNOC will 
continue to be the operator of WCGS.

DATES: The Order was issued on March 12, 2018, and is effective for 1 
year.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0217 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0217. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-
9127; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, 
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this 
document. The order was issued to the licensee in a letter dated March 
12, 2018, and it is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML18040A666.

[[Page 12617]]

     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Balwant K. Singal, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3016, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, on March 19, 2018.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Balwant K. Singal,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV, Division of 
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

Attachment--Order Approving Indirect Transfer of License

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Docket No. 50-482; License No. NPF-42

In the Matter of Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation

Wolf Creek Generating Station, Unit 1

ORDER APPROVING INDIRECT TRANSFER OF LICENSE

I.

    Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation (WCNOC) is the holder 
of the Renewed Facility Operating License (FOL) No. NPF[dash]42 for 
the Wolf Creek Generating Station, Unit 1 (WCGS) authorized to 
possess, use, and operate WCGS. WCGS is located in Coffey County, 
Kansas.

II.

    Pursuant to Section 184 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as 
amended (the Act), and Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR) Section 50.80, ``Transfer of licenses,'' WCNOC requested 
consent from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the 
Commission) to the indirect transfer of control of Renewed FOL No. 
NPF[dash]42 for the WCGS by application dated September 5, 2017.
    WCNOC is the licensed operator of WCGS and Kansas City Power & 
Light Company (KCP&L), Kansas Gas and Electric Company (KG&E), and 
Kansas Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (KEPCo) are the three non-
operating owner licensees. KCP&L and KG&E each hold a 47 percent 
undivided interest in WCGS and 47 percent of the stock of WCNOC. 
KEPCo holds the remaining 6 percent interest. KCP&L is a subsidiary 
of Great Plains Energy Incorporated (Great Plains) and KG&E is a 
subsidiary of Westar Energy, Inc. (Westar). The indirect license 
transfer will result from the proposed merger transaction involving 
Great Plains and Westar pursuant to the terms of the Amended and 
Restated Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated July 9, 2017 
(Attachment 2 to the letter dated September 5, 2017) (Amended Merger 
Agreement). Under this agreement, the transaction will occur in the 
following three simultaneous steps:
    In step 1, Great Plains will merge with its wholly-owned 
subsidiary, which was created to effectuate the transaction, named 
Monarch Energy Holding, Inc. \1\ (Holdco), with Holdco continuing as 
the surviving corporation.
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    \1\ The name of the holding company Monarch Energy Holding, Inc. 
may be changed before or following the closing of the proposed 
transaction.
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    In step 2, Westar will merge with a wholly-owned subsidiary of 
Holdco, named King Energy, Inc., which was also created to 
effectuate the transaction, with Westar continuing as the surviving 
corporation.
    In step 3, each share of common stock of Great Plains and Westar 
issued and outstanding at that time (subject to certain defined 
exceptions) will be converted automatically into the right to 
receive the merger consideration consisting of a number of shares of 
common stock of Holdco as determined by the applicable exchange 
ratio specified in the Amended Merger Agreement. Thus the current 
shareholders of Great Plains and Westar will become the shareholders 
of Holdco after the transaction.
    The current 6 percent owner of WCGS and WCNOC, KEPCo, the third 
non-operating owner licensee, is not a party to this transaction and 
will remain a 6 percent owner post-transaction.
    At the conclusion of the transaction, Holdco, whose shareholders 
will be comprised of the shareholders in Great Plains and Westar, 
will own all the direct and indirect subsidiaries previously held by 
Great Plains, including KCP&L, and will also own Westar and all of 
its direct and indirect subsidiaries, including KG&E. As a result, 
Holdco will indirectly own 94 percent of WCGS and WCNOC.
    The current and post-transaction ownership structure of the 
facility is depicted in the simplified organization charts provided 
in Figures 1 and 2 of Attachment 1 to the letter dated September 5, 
2017.
    No physical changes to the WCGS or operational changes are being 
proposed in the application. WCNOC will continue to be the operator 
of WCGS with the same management team as in effect prior to the 
consummation of the proposed merger.
    In response to the submission of the indirect license transfer 
application, the NRC published in the Federal Register a notice 
entitled, ``Wolf Creek Generating Station: Consideration of Approval 
of Transfer of License,'' on November 15, 2017 (82 FR 52946). No 
comments or hearing requests were received.
    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 NRC gives its consent in writing. Upon 
review of the information in the licensee's application, and other 
information before the Commission, the NRC staff has determined that 
WCNOC is qualified to hold the license following the proposed merger 
of Great Plains with Holdco, with Holdco as the surviving 
corporation, and Westar with King Energy Inc., with Westar as the 
surviving corporation. KCP&L and KG&E will each continue to hold 
their respective 47 percent interests in WCNOC and WCGS post-merger. 
Following the merger, Holdco will indirectly own a combined interest 
of WCGS of 94 percent. The current shareholders of Great Plains and 
Westar will become the shareholders of Holdco after the transaction. 
The NRC staff has also determined that the proposed indirect license 
transfer is otherwise consistent with the applicable provisions of 
law, regulations, and orders issued by the Commission pursuant 
thereto.
    The findings set forth above are supported by an NRC safety 
evaluation dated March 12, 2018.

III.

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 161b, 161i, and 184 of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), 42 USC Sec. Sec.  
2201(b), 2201(i), and 2234; and 10 CFR 50.80, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED 
that the application regarding the proposed indirect license 
transfer is approved.
    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, after receipt of all required 
regulatory approvals of the proposed indirect transfer action, WCNOC 
shall inform the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation in writing of such receipt, and of the date of closing of 
the transfer, no later than 5 business days prior to the date of the 
closing of the indirect license transfer. Should the proposed 
indirect license transfer not be completed within 1 year of this 
Order's date of issuance, this Order shall become null and void, 
provided, however, 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 
application dated September 5, 2017 (Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML17255A222), and the NRC 
safety evaluation dated the same date as this Order (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML18040A666), which are available for public inspection at the 
Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint 
North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), 
Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available documents created or 
received at the NRC are accessible electronically through ADAMS in 
the NRC Library at 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 or 301-415-4737, or 
by e-mail to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 12th day of March 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

/RA/

Joseph G. Giitter,

Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 2018-05873 Filed 3-21-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P