The transfer of operating licenses for Constellation Energy Group Inc. (CEG) nuclear-power plants was cleared Friday by the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the joint venture created by the purchase of half the company's nuclear business by Electricite de France SA.

It was in December that the $4.5 billion deal was struck, however, its conclusion has been postponed due to various regulatory approvals. Once the deal is finalized, EDF will own 49.99% of the nuclear business, with the Baltimore-based Constellation owning the remaining 50.01% via two intermediate companies.

Several conditions on the deal were placed by the NRC, including the requirement that at least half the board members of Constellation should be U. S. citizens. In a press release, NRC specified that the nuclear unit's chief executive, chief nuclear officer and chairman of the board should also be U. S. citizens.

Further, the rules by NRC ban nuclear licenses from being owned, controlled or dominated by a foreign individual or company.

EDF and Constellation executives said in a statement, "EDF's investment in Constellation Energy's nuclear assets represents a unique opportunity to deliver significant economic, energy and environmental benefits to a broad array of stakeholders and would be a powerful catalyst for new nuclear development in the United States."

EDF and Constellation mull to create new reactors at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Maryland.

In December, Constellation - which was facing the possibility of filing for bankruptcy protection - accepted the EDF deal, rejecting an offer from Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., which would have taken the company private.

"The EDF deal is still awaiting approval from Maryland regulators, who last week gave interveners in the case extra time to file testimony. Constellation is appealing a Maryland Public Service Commission decision that gives state regulators authority to block the deal," said a source.