[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 227 (Friday, November 26, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 72737-72739]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-29738]
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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. 75, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2010 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 72737]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 50
[NRC-2010-0366]
Proposed Generic Communications Reporting for Decommissioning
Funding Status Reports
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of opportunity for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to issue
a regulatory issue summary (RIS) to clarify for licensees and external
stakeholders the information that they should use and present to the
NRC in the Decommissioning Funding Status (DFS) reports to ensure that
the NRC staff, licensees, and stakeholders are using the same, correct
figures and to prevent potential issues resulting from shortfalls in
the licensee's decommissioning fund.
DATES: Comment period expires December 27, 2010. Comments submitted
after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but
assurance of consideration cannot be given except for comments received
on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Chief, Rules, Directives and
Announcements Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop TWB-05-
B01M, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and cite the publication date and page
number of this Federal Register Notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Aaron L. Szabo, at 301-415-1985 or by
e-mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2010-XXX
10 CFR 50.75 Reporting for Decommissioning Funding Status Reports
Addressees
All holders of and applicants for a power reactor operating license
or construction permit under Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, ``Domestic Licensing of Production and
Utilization Facilities,'' except those that have permanently ceased
operations and have certified that fuel has been permanently removed
from the reactor vessel.
All holders of and applicants for a power reactor early site
permit, combined license, standard design certification, standard
design approval, or manufacturing license under 10 CFR Part 52,
``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.''
Intent
The NRC is issuing this RIS to clarify the reporting requirements
of 10 CFR 50.75(f)(1) and 10 CFR 50.75(f)(2) regarding the status of
decommissioning funding assurance.
In 2009, the NRC received the DFS reports for all the NRC licensed
power reactors, including those undergoing decommissioning, as required
by 10 CFR 50.75(f)(1) and (2). During the evaluation process for the
DFS reports, the NRC staff determined that communication between the
NRC and licensees could be enhanced. Therefore, the staff decided to
provide this RIS to clarify the information that licensees should
report to the NRC in the DFS reports to ensure standardization and
consistency. This RIS does not replace any information provided in RIS
2001-07, Revision 1, ``10 CFR 50.75 Reporting and Recordkeeping for
Decommissioning Planning,'' dated January 8, 2009, and should be
considered a supplement to it.
Background
SECY-07-0197, ``Reactor Decommissioning Trust Fund Oversight by
Other Agencies and Recommendations Regarding Further Commission
Action,'' issued November 2007, recommended to the Commission that the
NRC staff begin to perform periodic spot-checks at the licensee's
offices of the original statements and other related documents sent to
a licensee from its trustee that disclose the trust fund balance to
ensure that the amounts reported to the NRC in the DFS reports are
equivalent to the amount stated in the licensee's year-end bank
statement.
The NRC has completed over half of the required spot-checks,
ensuring in each case that the DFS report matched the licensee's
submission and that the information provided to the NRC was correct.
In 2009, during the NRC staff's review of the DFS reports, the
staff held conference calls and issued requests for additional
information to ensure compliance with reporting regulations under 10
CFR 50.75(f). Also during the review, the NRC staff determined that
stakeholders needed to be informed about the NRC's evaluation process
for decommissioning funding assurance (DFA), as well as about the
information that licensees should provide to the NRC when they submit
their DFS reports. The current guidance that the NRC staff uses to
evaluate the DFS reports appears in Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation (NRR) Instruction LIC-205, Revision 3 (Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML100550465).
Because of these issues, the NRC staff is clarifying for licensees
and external stakeholders the information that they should use and
present to the NRC in the DFS reports to ensure that the NRC staff,
licensees, and stakeholders are using the same, correct figures and to
prevent potential issues resulting from shortfalls in the licensee's
decommissioning fund.
Summary of the Issue
On the basis of a review of recent DFS reports submitted to the
NRC, the staff has identified two general categories in which DFS
report submittals could be improved:
(1) Format and content of submittal.
(2) Site-specific proposals.
Format and Content of Submittal
Under 10 CFR 50.75(c)(2), the licensee must provide the most recent
applicable regional data from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS) when submitting the DFS report. The licensee
should provide the month of December of the calendar year preceding the
date of the report BLS
[[Page 72738]]
regional data, if available, for labor, and fourth quarter of the
calendar year preceding the date of the report BLS regional data, if
available, for energy; if either or both of those numbers are not
available, then the licensee should use the latest available numbers
and specify which month or quarter.
Under 10 CFR 50.75(f), the licensee must submit the amount of
decommissioning funds accumulated at the end of the calendar year. In
some cases, licensees who recover their costs in rates are authorized
to accumulate funds outside the decommissioning account until a
determination is made by their rate regulator regarding whether the
funds will be deposited into the account. Funds held outside the
decommissioning trust using a method not listed in 10 CFR 50.75(e)
should not be included in the amount of funds reported as accumulated.
In some cases, the licensee has accumulated funds in its
decommissioning trust greater than needed to satisfy the minimum amount
required by NRC regulations or has commingled funds set aside to
satisfy the NRC requirement with other decommissioning-related funds;
if so, the licensee must report the total accumulated amount in its
decommissioning trust for radiological decommissioning, pursuant to NRC
regulations, and may, separately report the amount accumulated for
State costs, spent fuel management costs, or other purposes. The
licensee needs to preserve the distinction between NRC-determined cost
estimate and all other decommissioning cost estimates in their reports.
The licensee should report the actual amount accumulated for
decommissioning, as defined by the NRC's regulations. When performing
spot-checks of decommissioning fund accounts, the NRC staff discovered
that some licensees provided the book value of their Decommissioning
Trust Fund (DTF) balance instead of the market value. Although the book
value has usually been a lower amount than the market value, the market
value is a more accurate measure of the worth of the DTF, because it is
the value of the DTF if liquidated on the date reported. Licensees
should avoid providing the book value and consider providing the market
value for their DTF balance. The DFS reports will allow the NRC staff
to track the amounts in all licensees' DTFs to determine financial
market trends and ensure that licensees are following all NRC
regulations.
When submitting the DFS report, if the licensee provides a schedule
of the annual amounts remaining to be collected, the licensee should
avoid providing an aggregated amount and instead provide the amounts in
a year-by-year breakdown that gives the source of the annual amounts
remaining to be collected (i.e., rate-recovery or non-bypassable
charges, as allowed under 10 CFR 50.75(e)(ii)(A) or (B)). If a licensee
is relying on any contracts under 10 CFR 50.75(e)(i)(v) as the source
of the annual amounts remaining to be collected, the licensee should
identify the contracts and provide the amounts to be collected on an
annual basis. The licensee may also provide the NRC with the regulatory
order stating the amounts and length of the schedule.
If the licensee claims a greater than 2 percent real rate of
return, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.75(e)(1)(i), the licensee should
provide the rate-setting authority order permitting a greater real rate
of return or other documentation granting the higher rate, including
inflation and other escalation factors. The licensee should also
indicate whether the higher real rate of return has been allowed during
the decommissioning period.
Under 10 CFR 50.75(f), the DFS report must state the modifications
to the method of providing DFA. This includes, but is not limited to,
adding or eliminating funding methods, changing existing methods (for
example, changing the terms of contractual obligations or the face
amount of a surety, insurance, or other guarantee method), and changing
the commingling of funds (creating subaccounts, moving funds from one
unit to another within the same site). Any material changes to the
trust agreement must also be reported in the DFS report (Note: under 10
CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iii), material changes to the trust agreement require
prior written notification to the NRC).
Site-Specific Proposals
Licensees are required to provide a site-specific cost estimate
five years prior to cessation of operations. However, if a licensee
chooses to submit a site-specific cost estimate prior to that time, it
must be equal to or greater than the NRC minimum, as calculated in 10
CFR 50.75(c), and be accompanied by the same information required for
the site-specific study required under 10 CFR 50.75(f)(3). It should be
consistent with the cost assessments made in the most recently
submitted site-specific cost estimate to the NRC, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, state public utilities commission, or other
regulatory body. The licensee should provide a reference and citation
to any site-specific cost estimate submitted to another regulatory
body. If the licensee does not provide this information, the NRC staff
may determine the site-specific method to be insufficient as submitted
and only allow the licensee to use the regulatory formula, with no
credit for safe store, unless more information is provided.
The detailed site-specific study should have a year-by-year cost
breakdown combined with the overnight cost (cost without inflation or
cost escalation) of decommissioning the plant using constant dollars
for the year reported. The NRC staff evaluates the site-specific method
using the following steps: (1) Applying the current revision of NRR OI
LIC-205 to calculate the growth of the fund during operations, (2) for
each year during decommissioning, (a) subtracting the annual cost to be
incurred and then (b) providing a 2 percent real rate of return, unless
a higher rate has been allowed, and (3) repeating step (2) for each
year of the decommissioning period until either the decommissioning
period is completed or the DTF is depleted.
Backfit Discussion
This RIS provides regulatory clarification and does not represent a
new or different staff position regarding the implementation of 10 CFR
50.75, ``Reporting and Recordkeeping for Decommissioning Planning.'' It
requires no action or written response beyond that required in 10 CFR
50.75. Any action by addressees to implement changes to their reporting
procedures in accordance with the clarifications in this RIS is
strictly voluntary, ensures compliance with current regulations, and
therefore is not a backfit under 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting.''
Consequently, the NRC staff did not perform a backfit analysis.
Federal Register Notification
To be done after the public comment period.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
This RIS contains and references information collection
requirements that are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing requirements were approved by the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), approval number 3150-0011.
Public Protection Notification
The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a request for information or an information collection
requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid
OMB control number.
If you have any questions about this regulatory issue summary,
please contact the person listed below or the
[[Page 72739]]
NRR project manager for your specific nuclear power plant.
Contact
Please direct any questions about this matter to Aaron L. Szabo at
301-415-1985 or by e-mail at [email protected].
End of Draft Regulatory Issue Summary
Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's
Public Document Room at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike
(first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be
accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the
Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html.
If you do not have access to ADAMS or if you have problems in accessing
the documents in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR)
reference staff at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to
[email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of November 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Theodore R. Quay,
Deputy Director, Division of Policy and Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2010-29738 Filed 11-24-10; 8:45 am]
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