ML24039A019

Order Approving Transfer of the Vallecitos Nuclear Center Licenses and Conforming License Amendments

ML24039A019
Person / Time
Site:	Vallecitos, 07000754, Vallecitos Nuclear Center
Issue date:	04/25/2024
From:	William Allen Reactor Decommissioning Branch
To:	Michelle Catts GEHA Regulatory Affairs
Shared Package
ML24039A011	List: ML24039A019 ML24039A020 ML24039A021 ML24068A040
References
EA-24-040, EPID L-2023-LLO-0002
Download: ML24039A019 (2)

Text

OFFICIAL USE ONLY - SECURITY RELATED/PROPRIETARY INFORMATION UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 OFFICIAL USE ONLY - SECURITY RELATED/PROPRIETARY INFORMATION EA-24-040 Michelle P. Catts, Senior Vice President GEHA Regulatory Affairs 3901 Castle Hayne Road, P.O. Box 780 Wilmington, NC 28402

SUBJECT:

ORDER APPROVING TRANSFER OF THE VALLECITOS NUCLEAR CENTER LICENSES AND CONFORMING LICENSE AMENDMENTS (EPID L-2023-LLO-0002)

Dear Michelle P. Catts:

By application dated September 1, 2023 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML23244A247), as supplemented by GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC (GEHA) on September 5, 2023 (ML23248A232); by NorthStar Vallecitos, LLC (NorthStar Vallecitos) on October 19, 2023 (ML23292A336); by GEHA on November 1, 2023 (ML23305A052); by GEHA and NorthStar Vallecitos on January 22, 2024 (ML24022A323); and by GEHA and NorthStar Vallecitos on March 15, 2024 (ML24075A277),

GEHA and NorthStar Vallecitos (collectively, the Applicants) requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) consent to the direct transfer of control of License Nos. DPR-1 for the Vallecitos Boiling Water Reactor (VBWR), TR-1 for the General Electric Test Reactor (GETR), R-33 for the Nuclear Test Reactor (NTR), DR-10 for the Empire State Atomic Development Associates Experimental Vallecitos Superheat Reactor (EVESR), and SNM-960 for the Vallecitos Nuclear Center (collectively, the licenses) in Sunol, California. Specifically, the Applicants requested that the NRC consent to the transfer of the licensed possession, maintenance, and decommissioning authorities from GEHA to NorthStar Vallecitos to expedite the decommissioning at the Vallecitos Nuclear Center. The Applicants also requested that the NRC impose license conditions relating to the management of the decommissioning trust fund, established for the purpose of providing decommissioning financial assurance for the licenses.

In addition, the Applicants requested that the NRC issue conforming license amendments to reflect the direct transfer of the licenses from GEHA to NorthStar Vallecitos. These requests were made under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.80, Transfer of licenses; 10 CFR 50.90, Application for amendment of license, construction permit, or early site permit; 10 CFR 70.34, Amendment of licenses; and 10 CFR 70.36, Inalienability of licenses. Notice of the receipt of the license transfer application and opportunity to comment, request a hearing, and petition for leave to intervene was published in the Federal Register on November 8, 2023 (88 FR 77113). The supplemental letters, listed above, contained clarifying information and did not expand the license transfer application beyond the scope of the original notice. transmitted herewith contains security-related information and Enclosure 8 contains proprietary information. When separated from Enclosures 7 and 8, this letter is decontrolled.April 25, 2024 OFFICIAL USE ONLY - SECURITY RELATED/PROPRIETARY INFORMATION OFFICIAL USE ONLY - SECURITY RELATED/PROPRIETARY INFORMATIONThe NRC staff has completed its review of the license transfer application. Enclosure 1 is the Order, which provides consent to the direct license transfer, subject to the condition described therein, and approves the conforming license amendments. Enclosures 2 through 7 provide drafts of the conforming license amendments, which will be issued and made effective at the time the transfer transaction is closed. Enclosure 8 provides the proprietary version of the NRC staffs safety evaluation related to the preceding actions. Enclosure 9 provides the public version of the NRC staffs safety evaluation related to the preceding actions. The public version of the safety evaluation will be placed in the NRC public document room and added to the ADAMS Publicly Available Records System Library.

A copy of the Order has been forwarded to the Office of the Federal Register for publication.

Should you have any questions concerning this action, please contact me at (301) 415-6877 or via email at william.allen@nrc.gov.

Sincerely, Chris Allen, Project Manager Reactor Decommissioning Branch Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste Programs Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket Nos. 50-18, 50-70, 50-73, 50-183, and 70-754 License Nos. DPR-1, TR-1, R-33, DR-10, and SNM-960

Enclosures:

1. Order

2. Draft Conforming Amendment to DPR-1

3. Draft Conforming Amendment to TR-1

4. Draft Conforming Amendment to R-33

5. Draft Conforming Amendment to DR-10

6. Draft Conforming Amendment to SNM-960 (Public Version)

7. Draft Conforming Amendment to SNM-960 (Non-Public Version)

8. Safety Evaluation (Proprietary)

9. Safety Evaluation (Public) cc: J. Parrott, NMSS O. Siurano-Perez, NMSS GEVallecitos Listserv GovDelivery subscribers for Docket 50-073 Signed by Allen, William on 04/25/24

ML24039A011; Ltr ML24039A019 OFFICE NMSS/DFM/STLB NMSS/REFS/FAB NMSS/REFS/FAB NMSS/DUWP/RDB NAME WAllen WA SHarwell SH KKline KK SAnderson SA DATE Mar 18, 2024 Mar 14, 2024 Mar 20, 2024 Mar 20, 2024 OFFICE NMSS/DFM/FFLB NMSS/DFM/FFLB OE/EB OGC/GCHA/AGCOR

/NLO NAME OSiurano-Perez OS SLav SLJPeralta JWachutka JW DFurst for DF DATE Mar 22, 2024 Apr 3, 2024 Apr 5, 2024 Apr 19, 2024 OFFICE NMSS/DUWP NMSS NMSS/DFM/STLB NAME JMarshall JLubinski JLWAllen WA JWhitman for JW DATE Apr 23, 2024 Apr 25, 2024 Apr 25, 2024