Nuclear Regulatory Commission Approves Indirect Transfer of Licenses to Avangrid

Strategic Insights -

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the indirect transfer of licenses for the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3, and the Palo Verde Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation from Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) to Avangrid, Inc. The approval was granted after a thorough review of the application, which was submitted on December 2, 2020, and supplemented by letters on February 26, 2021, and May 14, 2021.

Key Takeaways:

  • The indirect transfer of licenses will result from Avangrid acquiring PNM and its parent holding company as its subsidiaries, thereby owning 100 percent of the shares in PNM.
  • The proposed transaction will implicate only an indirect upstream change in control over PNM's possession-only rights in the NRC licenses.
  • The proposed transaction will not involve or implicate any change in PNM's rights and obligations under any of the NRC licenses, nor will it implicate APS's or any other possession-only co-owners' rights and obligations under any of the NRC licenses.
  • No physical changes or operational changes were proposed in the application.
  • The NRC staff has determined that PNM can indirectly transfer its 10.2 percent tenant-in-common interest and possession-only rights in the NRC licenses to Avangrid.
  • The proposed transferee is qualified to be the indirect holder of the licenses and the indirect transfer of the licenses is otherwise consistent with applicable provisions of law, regulations, and orders issued by the Commission.
  • Avangrid, Inc. must ensure that seven specific conditions are met before the indirect transfer of licenses can be completed.

Statistics:

  • The license transfer Order was issued on May 25, 2021.
  • The effective date for the license transfer Order is 1 year from its issuance date.
  • Avangrid, Inc. must ensure that the PNM President is a U.S. citizen and delegates authority to one or more designated PNM representatives for Palo Verde co-owner matters.
  • The amendment to the Bylaws must specifically provide that the sole shareholder or any of its parent companies cannot remove the PNM President or fail to reappoint the PNM President based upon a decision made with respect to Palo Verde.

Sources:

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"Indirect Transfer of Licenses", DoC 2021-11433 (Nuclear Regulatory Commission), May 25, 2021.

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May 25, 2021. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission /RA/ Caroline L. Carusone, Deputy Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 2021-11433 Filed 5-28-21; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P