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	NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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	Washington, DC 20555-001	E-mail: opa@nrc.gov

No. 99-228

October 28, 1999

NRC Proposes Amending Regulations Clarifying Antitrust Review Requirements

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing to amend its regulations to clarify that it will no longer conduct antitrust reviews of license transfer applications submitted by the owners of operating nuclear power plants, eliminating a review that is duplicated by other federal and state agencies.

The Atomic Energy Act and NRC regulations provide that no nuclear power plant operating license may be transferred directly or indirectly, without Commission consent. NRC has historically conducted antitrust reviews in connection with certain kinds of nuclear power plant license transfers.

As part of a review of a license transfer application submitted by two owners of the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant in Kansas, the Commission examined its rules of practice and concluded that its statutory mandate does not require an antitrust review in these circumstances. As a result, NRC is amending its regulations to more clearly reflect its antitrust review authority by explicitly limiting the types of applications that must include antitrust information to applications for a construction permit, initial operating license, transfer of a construction permit before issuance of an initial operating license, or combined construction permit/operating license.

As a result of the change, parties submitting a license transfer application to NRC for an operating nuclear power plant will not be required to include antitrust information, eliminating a review that is now duplicated by other agencies, including, as appropriate, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, and the Federal Trade Commission, as well as state public utility commissions. NRC will continue to conduct reviews of nuclear power plant license transfer applications to ensure, among other matters, that prospective owners meet financial qualifications and decommissioning funding assurance requirements.

Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on the proposed rule within 60 days of publication in an upcoming edition of the Federal Register. They should be addressed to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff. Comments may also be submitted via the NRC's interactive rulemaking web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov .

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