[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 13, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18006-18007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-9181]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Environmental Management


Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Fee Policy

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Clarification of the Fee Policy for Acceptance of Foreign 
Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: On May 13, 1996, DOE, in consultation with the Department of 
State, issued a Record of Decision (ROD) on a Nuclear Weapons 
Nonproliferation Policy Concerning Foreign Research Reactor Spent 
Nuclear Fuel (61 FR 25092), which established the foreign research 
reactor spent nuclear fuel acceptance program. Under this program, DOE 
will accept until 2009 foreign research reactor spent nuclear fuel and 
target material containing uranium enriched in the United States. The 
ROD stated that DOE would announce the fee policy that would apply to 
the spent fuel acceptance program in a separate Federal Register 
notice, so that the fee policy could be changed as necessary to reflect 
changes in cost or new information relevant to the policy.
    The ROD acknowledged that, if the United States were to charge all 
foreign research reactors a full-cost recovery fee for the acceptance 
of eligible spent fuel, some reactor operators would not have the 
financial resources to participate in the program. This, in turn, could 
reduce the amount of spent fuel brought to the United States for 
management, thereby increasing the risk of diversion of highly enriched 
uranium (HEU) into a foreign nuclear weapons program. Accordingly, DOE 
and the Department of State decided that the fee charged for 
participation in the acceptance program should be based in part on 
whether the country from which the spent fuel is transported to the 
United States is categorized as one having a ``high-income economy'' or 
one having an ``other-than-high-income economy.'' For countries with 
other-than-high-income

[[Page 18007]]

economies, the United States will subsidize receipt of the spent fuel 
to maximize participation in the acceptance program.
    The fee policy announced in 1996 (61 FR 26507) did not address 
explicitly how, during the course of the acceptance program, a change 
in the economic status of the country from which spent fuel is shipped 
would affect the fee charged for participation in the program. DOE will 
initially determine whether a foreign research reactor operator is 
located in a country with a ``high-income economy'' or ``other-than-
high-income economy'' based on the most current edition of The World 
Bank Development Report (The Report) at the time the contract between 
the foreign research reactor operator and DOE is signed. This notice 
clarifies that, during the term of the contract, if the most current 
edition of The Report, which is published annually in October, reflects 
a change in the status of the economy of the country from which the 
spent fuel is to be shipped from other-than-high-income to high-income, 
a fee will be charged to the reactor operator for any shipment arriving 
in the United States in the next fiscal year (starting October 1) 
following the fiscal year in which such change is published. The fee 
charged for any shipment arriving in the United States in the same 
fiscal year in which such change in economic status is published in The 
Report will be based on the country's status prior to such publication. 
In the event that the most current edition of The Report reflects a 
change in the status of the economy of the country from which the spent 
fuel is to be shipped from high-income to other-than-high-income, DOE's 
subsidy of shipments would apply to any shipments initiated after 
publication in The Report of such a change.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth Chacey, Director, Office of 
Spent Fuel Management (EM-67), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20585, telephone (202) 586-
0671.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 13, 1996, DOE issued a ROD on a 
Nuclear Weapons Nonproliferation Policy Concerning Foreign Research 
Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel (61 FR 25092). The ROD announced that over a 
13-year period (1996-2009) the United States will accept for management 
approximately 19.2 metric tonnes of heavy metal (MTHM ) foreign 
research reactor spent fuel and approximately 0.6 MTHM of target 
material containing uranium enriched in the United States. Because HEU 
can be used directly in the production of nuclear weapons, the goal of 
the acceptance program is to reduce the availability of HEU in civil 
commerce worldwide.
    The ROD specifies that, to encourage foreign research reactor 
operators in countries with other-than-high-income-economies to 
participate in the acceptance program, the United States will subsidize 
receipt of their spent fuel. DOE and the Department of State jointly 
determined in the ROD that many, if not all, countries with other-than-
high-income-economies would not have the financial resources to 
participate in the acceptance program if the United States were to 
charge a fee for the acceptance of spent fuel from such countries. 
Limited participation by such countries would reduce the amount of 
spent fuel accepted in the United States, thereby increasing the risk 
of diversion of HEU into a foreign nuclear weapons program.
    Whether a country has a high-income economy or other-than-high-
income economy is initially determined when a contract between a 
foreign research reactor operator and DOE is signed. The determination 
is based on the most current edition of The Report, which is published 
annually during October. If, during the term of the contract, The 
Report reflects a change in the status of the economy of the country 
which the spent fuel is to be shipped from other-than-high-income to 
high-income, a fee will be charged to the reactor operator for any 
shipment arriving in the United States in the next fiscal year 
(starting October 1) following the fiscal year in which such change is 
published. This period of approximately one year has been established 
to allow time for reactor operators in countries with changed economic 
status to renegotiate their contracts with DOE and, as applicable, 
identify funding to transport the spent fuel to the United States and 
to pay the associated fee.
    Although this fee policy clarification is designed to ensure that 
reactor operators who are able to bear costs do so, DOE recognizes that 
fiscal arrangements to support shipments must be made in advance. 
Countries with newly changed economic status from other-than-high-
income economy to high-income economy will not necessarily be in a 
position to bear these costs in the year of their changed status. Thus, 
no fee will be charged for any shipment arriving in the United States 
in the same fiscal year in which the change in economic status from 
other-than-high-income to high-income is published. DOE will not 
subsidize any shipment arriving in the United States in the next fiscal 
year following the fiscal year in which the changed status is published 
in The Report. Further, DOE would not subsidize shipments in subsequent 
years unless the economy of the country in question were again 
reclassified as having an other-than-high-income economy by a new 
edition of The Report.
    For those countries whose economic status changes from high-income 
economy to other-than-high-income economy, as published in The Report, 
DOE's subsidy of shipments would apply to any shipment initiated after 
publication in The Report of such a change.
    This clarification will be effective on October 1, 1999. This 
notice is being published well in advance of the effective date to 
provide ample time for potentially affected foreign research reactor 
operators to plan for any financial arrangements that may become 
necessary. For those reactor operators planning with DOE for a shipment 
scheduled to arrive in the United States prior to October 1, 1999, any 
applicable fee will be based upon the respective country's economic 
status as reported in the ROD that was issued in May 1996.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 6, 1999.
David G. Huizenga,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Material and Facility 
Stabilization, Office of Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 99-9181 Filed 4-12-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P