02-1720. Portland General Electric Company Trojan Nuclear Plant and Trojan Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Notice of Consideration of Approval of Application Regarding Proposed Acquisition of Portland General Electric Company by ...

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is considering the issuance of an order under 10 CFR 50.80 and 10 CFR 72.50 approving the indirect transfer of Facility Operating License No. NPF-1 for the Trojan Nuclear Plant (TNP or Trojan) and Materials License No. SNM-2509 for the Trojan Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) to the extent currently held by Portland General Electric Company (PGE), as part owner and licensed operator of TNP and the Trojan ISFSI.

According to an application for approval filed by PGE, Northwest Natural Holdco (NW Natural Holdco) has entered into an agreement to purchase all of the common stock of PGE from Enron Corporation (Enron). PGE, currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of Enron, would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of NW Natural Holdco, thereby effecting an indirect transfer of the TNP and Trojan ISFSI licenses, to the extent held by PGE, to NW Natural Holdco. No physical or operational changes are being proposed to TNP or the Trojan ISFSI in the application. No direct transfer of the licenses for TNP or the Trojan ISFSI would result from the change in ownership of PGE. PacifiCorp and the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB), the other co-owners of TNP and the Trojan ISFSI, are not involved in the purchase of PGE, and the licenses as held by PacifiCorp and EWEB are not presently subject to any proposed transfer.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80 and 10 CFR 72.50, 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 indirect transfer of a license, if the Commission determines that the underlying transaction effectuating the indirect tranfer will not affect the qualifications of the holder of 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 license transfer application, are discussed below.

By February 13, 2002, any person whose interest may be affected by the Commission's action on the application may request a hearing and, if not the applicant, may petition for leave to intervene in a hearing proceeding on the Commission's action. 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 10 CFR part 2, subpart M, “Public Notification, Availability of Documents and Records, Hearing Requests and Procedures for Hearings on License Transfer Applications.” In particular, such requests and petitions must comply with the requirements set forth in 10 CFR 2.1306, and should address the considerations contained in 10 CFR 2.1308(a). Untimely requests and petitions may be denied, as provided in 10 CFR 2.1308(b), 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 2.1308(b)(1)-(2).

Requests for a hearing and petitions for leave to intervene should be served upon Douglas R. Nichols, Esq., General Counsel, Portland General Electric Company, Suite 1700, 121 SW Salmon Street, Portland, Oregon 97204 (telephone number 503-464-8402); the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555 (e-mail address for filings regarding license transfer cases only: [e-mail]); and the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.1313.

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 February 25, 2002, 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 action, see the application dated December 6, 2001, available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management Systems (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov. 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 [e-mail].

Dated at Rockville, MD, this 17th day of January, 2002.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

David J. Wrona,

Project Manager, Section 1, Project Directorate IV, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.