[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 20, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3642-S3643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CBO COST ESTIMATE--S. 512
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, in compliance with paragraph 11(a) of
rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee on
Environment and Public Works has obtained from the Congressional Budget
Office an estimate of the costs of S. 512, the Nuclear Energy
Innovation and Modernization Act, as reported from the committee on May
25, 2017.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the cost estimate be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
S. 512--Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act
As reported by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on
May 25, 2017
SUMMARY
S. 512 would direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC)--which licenses and regulates the use of radioactive
materials at civilian facilities such as nuclear reactors--to
[[Page S3643]]
undertake certain activities related to establishing a
regulatory framework for licensing nuclear reactors that use
advanced technologies for either commercial or research-
related purposes. The bill also would modify the NRC's
underlying authority to charge fees to entities that the
agency regulates and would authorize the Department of Energy
(DOE) to provide grants to developers of advanced nuclear
technologies to help pay for the costs of developing and
licensing such technologies. Finally, S. 512 would amend
existing law regarding the disposition of excess uranium
materials managed by DOE.
CBO estimates that implementing S. 512 would cost $386
million over the 2018-2022 period, assuming appropriation of
the necessary amounts. Pay-as-you-go procedures apply because
enacting the bill would affect direct spending; however, CBO
estimates that any such effects would be insignificant.
Enacting S. 512 would not affect revenues.
CBO estimates that enacting S. 512 would not increase net
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
S. 512 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
(UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments.
ESTIMATED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
The estimated budgetary effect of S. 512 is shown in the
following table. The costs of this legislation fall within
budget function 270 (energy).
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By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
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2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2017-2022
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INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION a
Advanced Nuclear Energy Licensing Cost-
Share Grants:
Estimated Authorization Level........ 0 87 88 90 92 93 450
Estimated Outlays.................... 0 26 53 80 90 91 340
Accelerated NRC Activities:
Estimated Authorization Level........ 0 10 10 10 10 10 50
Estimated Outlays.................... 0 7 9 10 10 10 46
Total Changes:
Estimated Authorization Level.... 0 97 98 100 102 103 500
Estimated Outlays................ 0 33 62 90 100 101 386
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Note: NRC = Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
a CBO estimates that enacting the bill would have no significant effect on direct spending.
BASIS OF ESTIMATE
For this estimate, CBO assumes that S. 512 will be enacted
near the start of fiscal year 2018 and that amounts estimated
to be necessary will be provided at the start of each year.
Estimated outlays are based on historical spending patterns
for affected activities.
Advanced Nuclear Energy Licensing Cost-Share Grants
S. 512 would authorize DOE to provide grants to developers
of advanced nuclear technologies to accelerate the
development, licensing, and commercial deployment of those
technologies. Such grants would be available for a range of
costs related to those efforts, including fees charged by the
NRC for licensing-related activities. Based on an analysis of
information from DOE, CBO estimates that spending for such
assistance under S. 512 would require appropriations totaling
$450 million over the 2018-2022 period. That estimate is in
line with the total amount of funding provided by the
Congress for a six-year effort, now largely completed, to
support the development, certification, and licensing of
small modular reactors (a type of advanced nuclear
technology). Assuming appropriation of those amounts, CBO
estimates that outlays would total $340 million over the
2018-2022 period and $110 million after 2022.
Accelerated NRC Activities
Funding for the NRC--which totals approximately $1 billion
in 2017--is provided in annual appropriation acts. Under
current law, the agency is required to recover most of its
funding through fees charged to licensees and applicants; CBO
estimates that such fees, which are classified as
discretionary offsetting collections, will total nearly $900
million this year.
S. 512 would require the NRC to establish a regulatory
framework for licensing advanced nuclear reactors, defined in
the bill as reactors that involve significant technological
improvements relative to those currently being constructed.
The bill specifies that any funding provided to the NRC for
activities related to developing that framework would be
excluded from the portion of the agency's budget that is
offset by fees the NRC collects. Based on an analysis of
information from the NRC about the anticipated costs of
establishing the proposed licensing regime within the
timeframe specified by the bill, CBO estimates that
implementing S. 512 would cost $46 million over the 2018-2022
period, mostly for salaries and expenses for technical
experts required to develop the necessary analyses and
regulations.
In addition, starting in 2020, the bill would modify the
existing formula used to determine the amount of NRC fees.
CBO expects that the proposed modifications to the formula
used to set regulatory fees charged by the NRC could change
the amount of such fees collected in future years. Under both
current law and S. 512, the amount of such fees would depend
on the level of funding provided for a range of specific NRC
activities. Because CBO has no basis for predicting how much
funding will be provided for such activities in future years,
CBO cannot determine whether the resulting fees would be
higher or lower under S. 512 than under current law.
PAY-AS-YOU-GO CONSIDERATIONS
S. 512 would amend exiting law regarding the disposition of
uranium materials managed by DOE. Under the bill, DOE would
be required to develop plans for marketing those materials
and to comply with annual limits on the volume of uranium
materials placed into commercial markets. Specifically, the
bill would cap sales and transfers at 2,100 metric tons per
year through 2025 and at 2,700 metric tons starting in 2026.
The bill also would expressly authorize DOE to market
materials derived from depleted uranium, which is one of the
by-products of the uranium enrichment process.
According to DOE, uranium sales and transfers averaged
about 2,450 metric tons a year over the 2012-2015 period, but
fell to 2,100 metric tons in 2016. Using information from
studies done for the department on uranium markets, CBO
estimates that the quantity of uranium that will be disposed
over the 2018-2027 period under current law probably will
remain below 2,100 metric tons a year. Thus, CBO estimates
that the caps on sales and transfers of uranium materials in
S. 512 would have no significant effect on offsetting
receipts from those activities over the 2018-2027 period.
(Under current law, CBO estimates that the sales of those
materials will total about $800 million over the 2018-2027
period; however, CBO expects that only a portion of that
value, or $80 million, will be deposited in the Treasury as
offsetting receipts because of uncertainty surrounding DOE's
budgetary treatment of these transactions.)
INCREASE IN LONG-TERM DIRECT SPENDING AND DEFICITS
CBO estimates that enacting S. 512 would not increase net
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
INTERGOVERMENTAL AND PRIVATE-SECTOR IMPACT
S. 512 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on
state, local, or tribal governments.
PREVIOUS CBO ESTIMATE
On June 12, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S.
97, the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act of 2017,
as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources on March 30, 2017. Both bills contain
provisions that would authorize DOE to provide cost-share
grants to support the expedited development, licensing, and
commercial deployment of advanced nuclear technologies.
Because those provisions are substantively the same and the
estimated costs of implementing those provisions are the same
in both bills. The estimated increase in spending subject to
appropriation under S. 512 is greater than under S. 97
because the estimate for S. 512 includes additional costs for
the NRC to meet new requirements specified by that bill.
ESTIMATE PREPARED BY:
Federal Costs: Megan Carroll and Kathleen Gramp; Impact on
State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Jon Sperl; Impact on
the Private Sector: Amy Petz.
ESTIMATE APPROVED BY:
H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget
Analysis.
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