[Federal Register: July 21, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 140)]
[Notices]
[Page 42375-42377]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21jy08-91]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-413]


Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC; North Carolina Electric Membership
Corporation; Saluda River Electric Cooperative, Inc.; Catawba Nuclear
Station, Unit 1; Notice of Consideration of Approval of the Proposed
Transfer of the Catawba Nuclear Station, Unit 1, Renewed Facility
Operating License No. NPF-35 and Conforming Amendment, and Opportunity
for a Hearing Regarding Transfer of the Saluda River Electric
Cooperative, Inc.'S Undivided Ownership Interest in Catawba Nuclear
Station, Unit 1, to Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, a Current Owner and
Operator and North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation, a Current
Owner

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is
considering the issuance of an order under Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Section 50.80 approving the direct
transfer of the Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-35 for the
Catawba Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (Catawba 1), currently held by Duke
Energy Carolinas, LLC (Duke/the licensee), as owner and licensed
operator, and Saluda River Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SREC/the
licensee), and North Carolina Electric Membership Corporative (NCEMC/
the licensee), as owners. The action would be to transfer the SREC
undivided ownership interest in Catawba 1 to Duke and NCEMC. The
Commission is also considering amending the license for administrative
purposes to reflect the proposed transfer.
    According to an application for approval filed by the licensees,
following approval, Duke will purchase 71.96 percent of the SREC's
interest in Catawba 1 and will allow NCEMC to purchase 28.04 percent of
SREC's interest in Catawba 1. Duke will remain responsible for the
operation and maintenance of Catawba 1.
    No physical changes to the Catawba 1 facility or operational
changes are being proposed in the application.
    The proposed amendment would replace references to SREC to reflect
the proposed transfer.
    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. The Commission will approve an application for the direct
transfer of a license, if the Commission determines

[[Page 42376]]

that the proposed transferee is qualified to hold the license, and that
the transfer is otherwise consistent with applicable provisions of law,
regulations, and orders issued by the Commission pursuant thereto.
    Before issuance of the proposed conforming license amendment, the
Commission will have made findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's regulations.
    As provided in 10 CFR 2.1315, unless otherwise determined by the
Commission with regard to a specific application, the Commission has
determined that any amendment to the license of a utilization facility
which does no more than conform the license to reflect the transfer
action involves no significant hazards consideration. No contrary
determination has been made with respect to this specific license
amendment application. In light of the generic determination reflected
in 10 CFR 2.1315, no public comments with respect to significant
hazards considerations are being solicited, notwithstanding the general
comment procedures contained in 10 CFR 50.91.
    The filing of requests for hearing and petitions for leave to
intervene, and written comments with regard to the license transfer
application, are discussed below.
    Within 20 days from the date of publication of this notice, any
person(s) whose interest may be affected by the Commission's action on
the application may request a hearing and intervention via electronic
submission through the NRC E-filing system. Requests for a hearing and
petitions for leave to intervene should be filed in accordance with the
Commission's rules of practice set forth in Subpart C ``Rules of
General Applicability: Hearing Requests, Petitions to Intervene,
Availability of Documents, Selection of Specific Hearing Procedures,
Presiding Officer Powers, and General Hearing Management for NRC
Adjudicatory Hearings,'' of 10 CFR part 2. In particular, such requests
and petitions must comply with the requirements set forth in 10 CFR
2.309. Untimely requests and petitions may be denied, as provided in 10
CFR 2.309(c)(1), unless good cause for failure to file on time is
established. In addition, an untimely request or petition should
address the factors that the Commission will also consider, in
reviewing untimely requests or petitions, set forth in 10 CFR
2.309(c)(1)(I)-(viii).
    A request for hearing or a petition for leave to intervene must be
filed in accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule, which the NRC
promulgated on August 28, 2007 (72 FR 49139). The E-Filing process
requires participants to submit and serve documents over the internet
or in some cases to mail copies on electronic storage media.
Participants may not submit paper copies of their filings unless they
seek a waiver in accordance with the procedures described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least
ten (10) days prior to the filing deadline, the petitioner/requestor
must contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at
HEARINGDOCKET@NRC.GOV, or by calling (301) 415-1677, to request (1) a
digital ID certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign documents and access the E-Submittal
server for any proceeding in which it is participating; and/or (2)
creation of an electronic docket for the proceeding (even in instances
in which the petitioner/requestor (or its counsel or representative)
already holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Each petitioner/
requestor will need to download the Workplace Forms Viewer\TM\ to
access the Electronic Information Exchange (EIE), a component of the E-
Filing system. The Workplace Forms Viewer\TM\ is free and is available
at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/install-viewer.html.
Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is available on
NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/
apply-certificates.html. Once a petitioner/requestor has obtained a
digital ID certificate, had a docket created, and downloaded the EIE
viewer, it can then submit a request for hearing or petition for leave
to intervene. Submissions should be in Portable Document Format (PDF)
in accordance with NRC guidance available on the NRC public Web site at
http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. A filing is considered
complete at the time the filer submits its documents through EIE. To be
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the EIE system no
later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon receipt of a
transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document and sends
the submitter an e-mail notice confirming receipt of the document. The
EIE system also distributes an e-mail notice that provides access to
the document to the NRC Office of the General Counsel and any others
who have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to
participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the
documents on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and
other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for
and receive a digital ID certificate before a hearing request/petition
to intervene is filed so that they can obtain access to the document
via the E-Filing system.
    A person filing electronically may seek assistance through the
``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/
site-help/e-submittals.html or by calling the NRC technical help line,
which is available between 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Eastern Time,
Monday through Friday. The help line number is (800) 397-4209 or
locally, (301) 415-4737. Participants who believe that they have a good
cause for not submitting documents electronically must file a motion,
in accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper
format. Such filings must be submitted by: (1) First class mail
addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or
expedited delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth
Floor, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland
20852, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Participants
filing a document in this manner are responsible for serving the
document on all other participants. Filing is considered complete by
first-class mail as of the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier,
express mail, or expedited delivery service upon depositing the
document with the provider of the service.
    Non-timely requests and/or petitions and contentions will not be
entertained absent a determination by the Commission, the presiding
officer, or the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that the petition
and/or request should be granted and/or the contentions should be
admitted, based on a balancing of the factors specified in 10 CFR
2.309(c)(1)(i)-(viii). To be timely, filings must be submitted no later
than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at
http://ehd.nrc.gov/EHD_Proceeding/home.asp, unless excluded pursuant
to an order of the Commission, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, or
a Presiding Officer. Participants are requested not to include personal
privacy information, such as social security numbers, home

[[Page 42377]]

addresses, or home phone numbers in their filings. With respect to
copyrighted works, except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose
of the adjudicatory filings and would constitute a Fair Use
application, Participants are requested not to include copyrighted
materials in their submissions.
    The Commission will issue a notice or order granting or denying a
hearing request or intervention petition, designating the issues for
any hearing that will be held and designating the Presiding Officer. A
notice granting a hearing will be published in the Federal Register and
served on the parties to the hearing.
    Within 30 days from the date of publication of this notice, persons
may submit written comments regarding the license transfer application,
as provided for in 10 CFR 2.1305. The Commission will consider and, if
appropriate, respond to these comments, but such comments will not
otherwise constitute part of the decisional record. Comments should be
submitted to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications
Staff, and should cite the publication date and page number of this
Federal Register notice.
    For further details with respect to this license transfer
application, see the application dated December 20, 2007, 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
records will be accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System's (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room
on the Internet at the NRC Web site, http://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 pdr@nrc.gov.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 14th day of July 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John Stang,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch II-1, Division of
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E8-16600 Filed 7-18-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590-01-P