[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 25, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12735-12737]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-6554]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 56 / Wednesday, March 25, 2009 /
Proposed Rules
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 171
[NRC-2008-0664]
RIN 3150-AI54
Variable Annual Fee Structure for Power Reactors
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR).
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering whether
to propose to amend its rule governing annual fees to establish a
variable annual fee structure for power reactors based on licensed
power limits. Current regulations governing annual fees require that
each operating power reactor pay the same annual fee, regardless of the
size of the reactor. The NRC has determined that the current single
annual fee structure for power reactors should be reviewed in light of
the potential for future licensing of small and medium sized nuclear
reactors, some of which may not be used to generate electric power, and
some of which may be used and licensed in configurations of up to
twenty (20) reactors (modules). Although issuance of a license for a
small or medium sized reactor which triggers imposition of fees may be
several years in the future, this ANPR invites early input from
interested stakeholders and the public on the issues relevant to the
establishment of a variable annual fee structure for power reactors.
DATES: Submit comments by June 8, 2009. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following methods.
Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form will be made
available for public inspection. Because your comments will not be
edited to remove any identifying or contact information, the NRC
cautions you against including any information in your submission that
you do not want to be publicly disclosed.
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and
search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-2008-0664. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher 301-492-3668; e-mail
[email protected].
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attn: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
E-mail comments to: [email protected]. If you do not
receive a reply e-mail confirming that we have received your comments,
contact us directly at 301-415-1677.
Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland
20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. Federal workdays (Telephone 301-
415-1677).
Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at
301-415-1101.
You can access publicly available documents related to this
document using the following methods:
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have
copied for a fee publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Public
File Area O1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS):
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC are
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, the public can gain
entry into ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC's public
documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems
in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's PDR
reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to
[email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rebecca I. Erickson, Office of the
Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone 301-415-7126; e-mail
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The NRC is required each year, under the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90) (42 U.S.C. 2214), as amended, to
recover through fees to NRC licensees and applicants approximately 90
percent of its budget authority after subtracting the amounts
appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF), amounts appropriated
for Waste Incidental to Reprocessing (WIR) activities, and amounts
appropriated for generic homeland security activities. The 10 percent
not recovered by fees in the NRC's annual appropriation covers the
costs of agency activities that do not provide a direct benefit to NRC
licensees, such as international assistance and Agreement State
activities.
The NRC assesses two types of fees to meet the requirements of
OBRA-90, as amended. First, license and inspection fees, established in
10 CFR part 170 under the authority of the Independent Offices
Appropriation Act of 1952 (IOAA) (31 U.S.C. 9701), recover the NRC's
costs of providing special benefits to identifiable applicants and
licensees. Examples of the services provided by the NRC for which these
fees are assessed are the review of applications for new licenses and
the review of renewal applications, the review of amendment requests,
and inspections. Second, annual fees established in 10 CFR part 171
under the authority of OBRA-90, as amended, recover generic and other
regulatory costs not otherwise recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees.
The assessment of annual fees by the NRC began in fiscal year (FY)
1987 to meet the requirements of Public Law 99-272, the Consolidated
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA \1\), which required
the NRC to recover 33 percent of its budget authority. In the FY 1987
fee rule, the NRC established a uniform annual fee for each licensed
nuclear power reactor under the new part 171 (51 FR 33224; September
18, 1986). The NRC also considered calculating the annual fee on power
reactors based on the thermal megawatt ratings of those reactors in the
FY 1987 proposed fee rule (51 FR
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24078, 24082-3; July 1, 1986). In its consideration, the NRC analyzed
the amendment, operator licensing, and inspection costs as billed to
licensees for the period of June 1984 to June 1985. At that time, the
NRC analysis found no necessary relationship or predictive trend
between the thermal megawatt rating of a reactor and NRC regulatory
costs.
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\1\ COBRA was replaced in December 1987, when Congress passed
OBRA 87. The NRC is currently under the requirements of OBRA 90, as
amended.
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In recognition of the problem that some licensees of smaller
reactors may have in paying substantially increased fees due to the
requirements of the new part 171, the NRC provided for fee exemptions
under Sec. 171.11 Exemption (51 FR 33230; September 18, 1986):
The Commission may, upon application, grant an exemption, in
part, from the annual fee required pursuant to this part. An
exemption under this provision may be granted by the Commission
taking into consideration the following factors:
(a) Age of the reactor;
(b) Size of the reactor;
(c) Number of customers in rate base;
(d) Net increase in KWh cost for each customer directly related
to the annual fee assessed under this part; and
(e) Any other relevant matter which the licensee believes
justifies the reduction of the annual fee.
In an effort to provide a more equitable distribution among the
licensed nuclear power reactors of the amount required to be collected,
the NRC re-evaluated the uniform annual fee for power reactors. As a
result, under the FY 1989 Fee Rule (53 FR 52632; December 29, 1988),
each reactor was assessed fees based on those NRC activities from which
it benefited as a type or within a class of reactors. The new
methodology took into account the kind of reactor, its location and
other considerations in relation to the generic research and other
costs associated with power reactor regulation.
In FY 1995, the NRC re-examined this very detailed and labor
intensive approach to determine reactor annual fees in an attempt to
streamline the fee program. The NRC's analysis determined that the
complex fee assessment was implemented when there were significant
differences in the NRC research funding for the various types of
reactors, which was no longer the case. Further, the NRC determined
that establishing a single uniform annual fee for each operating power
reactor would not cause an unfair burden and would simplify the fee
process. As a result, the NRC amended Sec. 171.15 to implement a
uniform annual fee assessed to all licensed operating power reactors
(60 FR 32218; June 20, 1995).
In the FY 2005 fee rule (70 FR 30526; May 26, 2005), the NRC
amended the fee exemption under Sec. 171.11 that was implemented in
1986 by eliminating the ``size of the reactor'' factor. Because none of
the smaller reactors were still licensed to operate, the NRC had not
issued waivers on the basis of size for several years. Moreover, no
other class of licensee contained an exemption provision based on size.
Therefore, the reference to size of the reactor as a consideration in
evaluating annual fee exemption requests was no longer needed.
In FY 2008, approximately 90 percent of NRC's fee recoverable
budget was allocated to the operating power reactors fee class, of
which approximately 60 percent or $419.3 million was recovered through
part 171 annual fees. The $419.3 million in budgeted costs was divided
equally among the 104 power reactors licensed to operate, which
resulted in an FY 2008 annual fee of $4,032,000 per reactor under Sec.
171.15(b)(1). Additionally, under Sec. 171.15(c)(1) each power reactor
licensed to operate was assessed a spent fuel storage/reactor
decommissioning annual fee of $135,000 in FY 2008. Thus, the total FY
2008 annual fee of $4,167,000 was assessed to each power reactor.
The 104 power reactors currently licensed to operate have licensed
power limits ranging from 1500 to 3990 megawatts thermal (MWt).
However, the NRC anticipates receiving applications to license small
and medium sized commercial nuclear reactors with capacities ranging
from 30 to 1000 MWt. The small and medium sized reactors could be any
of the advanced reactor designs, including high-temperature gas-cooled
reactors, sodium-cooled fast reactor, and small light-water reactors.
Some of these small and medium sized reactors may not generate electric
power, but instead be used to generate process heat for industrial
applications such as the production of hydrogen. Current regulations
governing annual fees for power reactors require the same fees from a
nuclear reactor designed to produce electrical or heat energy.
Specific Proposal
The Commission is considering whether to propose to amend Sec.
171.15 to establish a variable annual fee structure for power reactors
based on the reactor's licensed power limit contained in the operating
license (including a combined license).
Specific Considerations
Before it considers a proposed rule on the subject, the NRC is
seeking advice and recommendations on this matter from all interested
persons. The NRC invites advice and recommendations on an amendment to
annual fees for power reactor licensees reflecting these and any other
pertinent points from all interested persons. Comments and supporting
reasons are particularly requested on the following questions:
Power Reactors Variable Fees
Q.1. Should the NRC establish a variable annual fee structure based
on either the licensed thermal or electric power limits of the power
reactor? What variables should be considered in establishing such a fee
structure? In particular, should reactors producing process heat be
treated the same as reactors producing heat for the generation of
electricity? What are the considerations associated with establishing a
variable annual fee structure based upon thermal, as opposed to
electric power?
Q.2. If the NRC establishes a variable annual fee structure, what
should the ranges be for each group or category of reactors? What
criteria should be used to determine the fees for the different groups
or categories of reactors (e.g., power level, reactor technology,
associated NRC resources)?
Q.3. Current nuclear power plants use a configuration in which a
single large reactor provides the heat to produce electric power.
However, future plant concepts may include two or more small to medium
sized reactors to provide the heat to power one or more turbines
connected to an electric generator. Should a variable annual fee
structure account for the potential configurations?
Q.4. Current nuclear power plants have one, two or three large
reactors located at the same site. Current applications for new
reactors could result in up to four large reactors at a single site.
However, future plant concepts may have up to twenty (20) reactors
(modules) operating at the same site. Should the variable annual fee
structure account for this configuration? If so, what are the
considerations in establishing such a fee structure?
Q.5. Currently, each licensed reactor located at the same site is
treated as a separate unit for purposes of calculating and assessing
the annual fee. However, external stakeholders in the past have
suggested that a single comprehensive license be issued for a set of
modular reactors located at a single site. The licensee would have
substantial flexibility in determining whether and when to construct
and operate each reactor module in such a plant. Should the variable
annual fee structure account for this reactor licensing concept? If so,
what are the
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considerations in establishing such a fee structure?
Q.6. Are there other factors that should be considered in
determining the annual fee for power reactors?
There will be another opportunity for additional public comment in
connection with any proposed rule that may be developed by the
Commission.
List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 171
Annual charges, Byproduct material, Holders of certificates,
Registrations, Approvals, Intergovernmental relations, Non-payment
penalties, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Source
material, Special nuclear material.
The authority citation for this document is: 42 U.S.C. 2201; 42
U.S.C. 5841.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of March, 2009.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
J.E. Dyer,
Chief Financial Officer.
[FR Doc. E9-6554 Filed 3-24-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P