[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 111 (Monday, June 10, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26774-26775]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-12082]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 171
[Docket No. PRM-171-1; NRC-2019-0084]
Nuclear Power Plant License Fees Upon Commencing Commercial
Operation
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of docketing and request for
comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a
petition for rulemaking from Michael D. Meier on behalf of Southern
Nuclear Operating Company, dated February 28, 2019, requesting that the
NRC revise its regulations related to the start of assessment of annual
fees for certain nuclear power plants to align with commencement of
their commercial operation. The petition was docketed by the NRC on
March 21, 2019, and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-171-1. The NRC is
examining the issues raised in PRM-171-1 to determine whether they
should be considered in rulemaking. The NRC is requesting public
comment on this petition at this time.
DATES: Submit comments by July 10, 2019. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is
able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0084. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
Email comments to: [email protected]. If you
[[Page 26775]]
do not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then
contact us at 301-415-1677.
Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission at 301-415-1101.
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff.
Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) Federal
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Huckabay, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-5183; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0084 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0084.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS
Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or
by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number for each
document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first
time that it is mentioned in this document.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2019-0084 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove
identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. The Petitioner
The petition was submitted by Michael D. Meier on behalf of
Southern Nuclear Operating Company. Michael D. Meier is the Vice
President of Regulatory Affairs for Southern Nuclear Operating Company,
a nuclear energy facility operator.
III. The Petition
The petitioner is requesting that the NRC revise part 171 of title
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Annual fees for
reactor licenses and fuel cycle licenses and materials licenses,
including holders of certificates of compliance, registrations, and
quality assurance program approvals and government agencies licensed by
the NRC.'' Specifically, the petitioner is requesting that the NRC
revise the timing of when annual license fees for holders of a combined
license under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, certifications, and approvals
for nuclear power plants,'' commence, to coincide with a licensee's
commercial operation, rather than upon a 10 CFR 52.103(g) finding. The
petition may be found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML19081A015.
IV. Discussion of the Petition
The petitioner requests that the NRC change the start date of
assessment of annual fees for combined license holders under part 52 to
align with the date when a reactor is declared available for commercial
operation, instead of the current requirement in 10 CFR 171.15(a) to
commence at the date when the Commission has made the finding under
Sec. 52.103(g) that all inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance
criteria are met. The petitioner observes that a startup period of time
is required, after the licensee receives NRC's authorization to
operate, to complete the remaining tasks necessary to operate the power
reactor commercially. The petitioner asserts that at the time of a 10
CFR 52.103(g) finding, the power reactor has not yet been loaded with
fuel, undergone startup testing, power ascension, commissioning, or
other actions necessary to reliably generate energy for the production
of revenue. The petitioner states that (1) a licensee may not complete
these startup activities and achieve commercial operation until several
months after the Sec. 52.103(g) finding is made, and (2) the licensee
should not be subject to the annual fee required under Sec. 171.15,
``Annual fees: Reactor licenses and independent spent fuel storage
licenses,'' until the nuclear power plant receives financial benefit
from commercial operation beyond minimal amounts of revenue derived
from test energy. The petitioner also raises an issue regarding the
fairness of charging an annual license fee before commercial operations
commence.
V. Conclusion
The NRC has determined that the petition meets the threshold
sufficiency requirements for docketing a petition for rulemaking under
10 CFR 2.803. The NRC is examining the issues raised in PRM-171-1 to
determine whether they should be considered in rulemaking.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of June, 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2019-12082 Filed 6-7-19; 8:45 am]
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