[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 51 (Monday, March 17, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12571-12572]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-6287]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 51 / Monday, March 17, 2003 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 12571]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 50

RIN 3150-AG52


Decommissioning Trust Provisions; Correction

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; correcting amendments.

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

SUMMARY: This document contains a correction to an amendment included 
with the final regulations establishing licensing criteria for the 
decommissioning trust provisions for nuclear power plants that the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission published in the Federal Register of 
December 24, 2002.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 24, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian J. Richter, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-1978; e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The final regulations that are the subject of this correction 
become effective on December 24, 2003. The final rule, published 
December 24, 2002 (67 FR 78332), amended parts 50 and 72 of 10 CFR 
Chapter 1. One of the amendments included in the final rule was to 
Sec.  50.75(e). However, as a result of that amendment, paragraphs 
(e)(1)(ii)(A) and (e)(1)(ii)(B) would be inadvertently removed from the 
NRC's regulations at Sec.  50.75(e) when the December 24, 2002, final 
rule becomes effective. The NRC does not intend to remove these 
paragraphs.

Need for Correction

    As published, the final regulations erroneously omit two paragraphs 
of Sec.  50.75(e) that address the requirements for an external sinking 
fund sufficient to fund decommissioning costs for a nuclear power 
facility at the time permanent termination of operations is expected. 
This correction restores those paragraphs to 10 CFR Part 50.

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 50

    Antitrust, Classified information, Criminal penalties, Fire 
protection, Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear power plants and 
reactors, Radiation protection, Reactor siting criteria, and Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements.

    Accordingly, 10 CFR Part 50 is corrected by making the following 
correcting amendments:

PART 50--DOMESTIC LICENSING OF PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION 
FACILITIES

    1. The authority citation for Part 50 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Secs. 102, 103, 104, 105, 161, 182, 183, 186, 189, 68 
Stat. 936, 937, 938, 948, 953, 954, 955, 956, as amended, sec. 234, 
83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2132, 2133, 2134, 2135, 2201, 
2232, 2233, 2236, 2239, 2282); secs. 201, as amended, 202, 206, 88 
Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846).

    Section 50.7 also issued under Pub. L. 95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. 
2951 (42 U.S.C. 5841). Section 50.10 also issued under secs. 101, 
185, 68 Stat. 955, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2131, 2235); sec. 102, Pub. 
L. 91-190, 83 Stat. 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332). Sections 50.13, 50.54(dd), 
and 50.103 also issued under sec. 108, 68 Stat. 939, as amended (42 
U.S.C. 2138). Sections 50.23, 50.35, 50.55, and 50.56 also issued 
under sec. 185, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2235). Sections 50.33a, 
50.55a and Appendix Q also issued under sec. 102, Pub. L. 91-190, 83 
Stat. 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332). Sections 50.34 and 50.54 also issued 
under sec. 204, 88 Stat. 1245 (42 U.S.C. 5844). Sections 50.58, 
50.91, and 50.92 also issued under Pub. L. 97-415, 96 Stat. 2073 (42 
U.S.C. 2239). Section 50.78 also issued under sec. 122, 68 Stat. 939 
(42 U.S.C. 2152). Sections 50.80--50.81 also issued under sec. 184, 
68 Stat. 954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2234). Appendix F also issued 
under sec. 187, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2237).

    2. In Sec.  50.75, revise paragraph (e)(1)(ii) to read as follows:


Sec.  50.75  Reporting and recordkeeping for decommissioning planning.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (ii) External sinking fund. An external sinking fund is a fund 
established and maintained by setting funds aside periodically in an 
account segregated from licensee assets and outside the administrative 
control of the licensee and its subsidiaries or affiliates in which the 
total amount of funds would be sufficient to pay decommissioning costs 
at the time permanent termination of operations is expected. An 
external sinking fund may be in the form of a trust, escrow account, or 
Government fund, with payment by certificate of deposit, deposit of 
Government or other securities, or other method acceptable to the NRC. 
This trust, escrow account, Government fund, or other type of agreement 
shall be established in writing and maintained at all times in the 
United States with an entity that is an appropriate State or Federal 
government agency, or an entity whose operations in which the external 
linking fund is managed are regulated and examined by a Federal or 
State agency. A licensee that has collected funds based on a site-
specific estimate under Sec.  50.75(b)(1) of this section may take 
credit for projected earnings on the external sinking funds using up to 
a 2 percent annual real rate of return from the time of future funds' 
collection through the decommissioning period, provided that the site-
specific estimate is based on a period of safe storage that is 
specifically described in the estimate. This includes the periods of 
safe storage, final dismantlement, and license termination. A licensee 
that has collected funds based on the formulas in Sec.  50.75(c) of 
this section may take credit for collected earnings on the 
decommissioning funds using up to 2 percent annual real rate of return 
up to the time of permanent termination. A licensee may use a credit of 
greater than 2 percent if the licensee's rate-setting authority has 
specifically authorized a higher rate. However, licensees certifying 
only to the formula amounts (i.e., not a site-specific estimate) can 
take a pro-rata credit during the dismantlement period (i.e., 
recognizing both cash expenditures and earnings the first 7 years after 
shutdown). Actual earnings on existing funds may be used

[[Page 12572]]

to calculate future fund needs. A licensee, whose rates for 
decommissioning costs cover only a portion of these costs, may make use 
of this method only for the portion of these costs that are collected 
in one of the manners described in this paragraph, (e)(1)(ii). This 
method may be used as the exclusive mechanism relied upon for providing 
financial assurance for decommissioning in the following circumstances:
    (A) By a licensee that recovers, either directly or indirectly, the 
estimated total cost of decommissioning through rates established by 
``cost of service'' or similar ratemaking regulation. Public utility 
districts, municipalities, rural electric cooperatives, and State and 
Federal agencies, including associations of any of the foregoing, that 
establish their own rates and are able to recover their cost of service 
allocable to decommissioning, are assumed to meet this condition.
    (B) By a licensee whose source of revenues for its external sinking 
fund is a ``non-bypassable charge,'' the total amount of which will 
provide funds estimated to be needed for decommissioning pursuant to 
Sec. Sec.  50.75(c), 50.75(f), or 50.82 of this part.
* * * * *

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of March, 2003.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael T. Lesar,
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-6287 Filed 3-14-03; 8:45 am]
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