E5-4682. Portland General Electric Company, Trojan Nuclear Plant, Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Notice of Consideration of Approval of Proposed Corporate Restructuring and Opportunity for a Hearing

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Notice of consideration of approval of proposed corporate restructuring and opportunity for hearing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Christopher M. Regan, Senior Project Manager, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: [phone]; fax number: [phone]; e-mail: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission or NRC) is considering the issuance of an order under 10 CFR 72.50 approving the indirect transfer of Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) License No. SNM-2509 for the Trojan Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). The indirect transfer has been requested by Portland General Electric Company (PGE) and Stephen Forbes Cooper, LLC. (SFC), as Disbursing Agent on behalf of the Reserve for Disputed Claims (Reserve), to facilitate implementation of the transfer of 100% of PGE's common stock held by the Enron Corporation (Enron) to the creditors of Enron. This is to be done by canceling the existing PGE common stock held by Enron and by authorizing and issuing to Enron's creditors new PGE common stock.

The issuance of the new PGE common stock will not change the status as NRC licensee of the Trojan ISFSI, and there will be no direct transfer of the Trojan ISFSI license. Control of the 10 CFR Part 72 license for the Trojan ISFSI, now held by PGE and its co-owners, will remain with PGE and the same co-owners, and will not be affected by the issuance of the new PGE common stock. Issuance of the new PGE common stock will not affect PGE's technical and financial qualifications and its ability to continue funding its share of the costs of operating, maintaining, and ultimately decommissioning the Trojan ISFSI. No physical changes to the Trojan ISFSI or operational changes are being proposed in the application.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.50, no license, or any part included in the license issued under 10 CFR Part 72 for an ISFSI shall be transferred, assigned, or in any manner disposed of, either voluntarily or involuntarily, directly or indirectly, through transfer of control of the license to any person unless the Commission gives its consent in writing. The Commission will approve an application for the indirect transfer of a license, if the Commission determines 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.

The filing of requests for hearing and petitions for leave to intervene, and written comments with regard to the indirect license transfer application, are discussed below.

Within 20 days after the date of publication of this notice, the licensee may file a request for a hearing with respect to issuance of approval of the indirect transfer for the subject ISFSI operating license and any person whose interest may be affected by this proceeding and who wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding must file a written request for a hearing and a petition for leave to intervene. Requests for a hearing and petitions for leave to intervene shall be filed in accordance with the Commission's rules of practice set forth in Subpart C and Subpart M, “Hearing Requests and Procedures for Hearings on License Transfer Applications,” of 10 CFR Part 2. Interested persons should consult a current copy of 10 CFR 2.309, which is available at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area 01F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland 20852. Publicly available records will be accessible 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/​doc-collections/​cfr/​. If a request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene is filed within 20 days after the date of publication of this notice, the Commission or a presiding officer designated by the Commission or by the Chief Administrative Judge of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, will rule on the request and/or petition; and the Secretary or the Chief Administrative Judge of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will issue a notice of a hearing or an appropriate order. As required by 10 CFR 2.309, a petition for leave to intervene shall set forth with particularity the interest of the petitioner in the proceeding, and how that interest may be affected by the results of the proceeding. The petition should specifically explain the reasons why intervention should be permitted with particular reference to the following general requirements: (1) The name, address and telephone number of the requestor or petitioner; (2) the nature of the requestor's/petitioner's right under the Act to be made a party to the proceeding; (3) the nature and extent of the requestor's/petitioner's property, financial, or other interest in the proceeding; and (4) the possible effect of any decision or order which may be entered in the proceeding on the requestor's/petitioner's interest. The petition must also identify the specific contentions which the requestor/petitioner seeks to have litigated at the proceeding. Each contention must consist of a specific statement of the issue of law or fact to be raised or controverted. In addition, the requestor/petitioner shall provide a brief explanation of the bases for the contention and a concise statement of the alleged facts or expert opinion which support the contention and on which the requestor/petitioner intends to rely in proving the contention at the hearing. The requestor/petitioner must also provide references to those specific sources and documents of which the requestor/petitioner is aware and on which the petitioner intends to rely to establish those facts or expert opinion. The petition must include sufficient information to show that a genuine dispute exists with the applicant on a material issue of law or fact. Contentions shall be limited to matters within the scope of the amendment under consideration. The contention must be one which, if proven, would entitle the requestor/petitioner to relief. A requestor/petitioner who fails to satisfy these requirements with respect to at least one contention will not be permitted to participate as a party. Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding, subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to intervene, and have the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of the hearing. Non-timely requests and/or petitions and contentions will not be entertained absent a determination by the Commission or the presiding officer of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that the petition, request and/or the contentions should be granted based on a balancing of the factors specified in 10 CFR 2.309(a)(1)(i)-(viii). A request for a hearing or a petition for leave to intervene must be filed 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; (2) courier, express mail, and expedited delivery services: Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; (3) e-mail addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, [e-mail]; or (4) facsimile transmission addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff at [phone], verification number is [phone]. A copy of the request for hearing and petition for leave to intervene should also be sent to the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and it is requested that copies be transmitted either by means of facsimile transmission to [phone] or by e-mail to [e-mail]. Requests for a hearing and petitions for leave to intervene should be served upon Mr. Stephen M. Quennoz, Vice President, Power Supply/Generation, Portland General Electric Company, Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, 71760 Columbia River Highway, Rainier, Oregon 97048, Samuel Behrends IV, LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, L.L.P., 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW., Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20009-5728, phone: [phone], facsimile: [phone], and Disputed Claims Reserve, c/o Stephen Forbes Cooper, LLC., 101 Eisenhower Parkway, Roseland, New Jersey 07068.

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.

As an alternative to requests for hearing and petitions to intervene, by September 26, 2005, 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 Office of 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.

Further Information: For further details with respect to this action, see the application dated July 12, 2005, available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O-1F21, 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 [phone], [phone] or by e-mail to [e-mail].

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 16th day of August, 2005.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Christopher M. Regan,

Senior Project Manager, Licensing Section, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.