[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 184 (Wednesday, September 23, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 50815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-25414]



[[Page 50815]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 50 and 140

RIN 3150-AF79


Financial Protection Requirements for Permanently Shutdown 
Nuclear Power Reactors

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule: request to solicit additional public comment.

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SUMMARY: On October 30, 1997, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
published for comment proposed amendments to its regulations to allow 
licensees of permanently shutdown nuclear power reactors to reduce 
onsite and offsite insurance coverage under certain conditions (62 FR 
58690). In a late comment letter submitted on April 17, 1998, the 
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) argued that the required level of onsite 
insurance coverage should be lowered to $25 million. In NEI's view, $25 
million would be adequate for on-site cleanup costs for radioactive 
liquid spills. The NRC proposed rulemaking would require $50 million 
insurance coverage. The NRC used a postulated rupture of a 450,000 
gallon borated water storage tank as the defining event for determining 
the required insurance coverage. NEI also proposed that the requirement 
for onsite insurance be eliminated if less than 1000 gallons of 
contaminated liquid were onsite.
    NEI based its recommendation on a model that apportioned the 
removal of the contaminated soil to various disposal facilities 
according to the degree of contamination. Hence, under the NEI's model, 
some soil would be sent to a Barnwell type facility, some to a lower 
cost facility like Envirocare, and some soil could be left on site 
under the Commission's decommissioning regulation. NEI stated that 
under this type of parceling of contaminated soil, $25 million of 
onsite insurance coverage would be more than adequate to cover cleanup 
of any postulated radioactive spill. NEI further stated that there has 
never been a spill in the operating history of commercial nuclear power 
plants that resulted in remediation costs of $50 million. However, NEI 
did not provide any specific cost figures, estimates of the amount or 
degree of soil contamination, or analyses, to support its 
recommendation to lower the onsite insurance coverage to $25 million.
    The NRC is requesting public comment on the potential cost of 
cleanup of the on-site spill from a large vessel (>1000 gal) containing 
radioactive liquid and the appropriate level of insurance coverage. The 
NRC also has requested NEI to provide further information supporting 
its assessment of the costs of cleaning up a large (>1000 gal) on-site 
spill of radioactive material and its basis for recommending that 
onsite coverage should be reduced to zero when there is less than 1000 
gallons of radioactive liquid on site.

DATES: The comment period expires November 9, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send comments by mail addressed to the Secretary, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications 
Staff, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    Hand deliver comments to 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 
between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays.
    You may also provide comments by way of the NRC's interactive 
rulemaking web site through the NRC home page (http://www.nrc.gov). 
This site provides the capability to upload comments as files (any 
format) if your web browser supports that function. For information 
about the interactive rulemaking site, contact Ms. Carol Gallagher, 
301-415-5905, e-mail [email protected].
    Certain documents related to this rulemaking, including NEI's 
comments, may be examined at the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L 
Street NW. (Lower Level), Washington, DC. These documents also may be 
viewed and downloaded electronically through the interactive rulemaking 
website established by NRC for this rulemaking.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George J. Mencinsky, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone: (301) 415-3093, e-mail [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of September, 1998.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jack W. Roe,
Acting Director, Division of Reactor Program Management, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 98-25414 Filed 9-22-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P