[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73345-73346]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-26018]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2022-0190]


Report on Waste Burial Charges: Changes in Decommissioning Waste 
Disposal Costs at Low-Level Waste Burial Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft NUREG; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a draft report entitled, NUREG-1307, Revision 19, 
``Report on Waste Burial Charges: Changes in Decommissioning Waste 
Disposal Costs at Low-Level Waste Burial Facilities.'' This report, 
which is revised periodically, explains the formula acceptable to the 
NRC for determining the minimum decommissioning fund requirements for 
nuclear power reactor licensees, as required by NRC regulations. 
Specifically, this report provides the adjustment factor and updates 
the values for the labor, energy, and waste burial escalation factors 
of the minimum formula.

DATES: Submit comments by December 29, 2022. 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 
before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website:
     Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0190. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed

[[Page 73346]]

in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
     Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
    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: Emil Tabakov, Office of Nuclear 
Materials Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6814, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0190 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 https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0190.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://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]. Draft NUREG-1307, Revision 19, 
``Report on Waste Burial Charges: Changes in Decommissioning Waste 
Disposal Costs at Low-Level Waste Burial Facilities,'' is available in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML22327A133.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2022-0190 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 
https://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. Discussion

    Pursuant to section 50.75 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations, ``Reporting and recordkeeping for decommissioning 
planning,'' the NRC requires nuclear power reactor licensees to adjust 
annually, in current year dollars, their estimate of the cost to 
decommission their plants. The annual updates are part of the process 
for providing reasonable assurance that adequate funds for 
decommissioning will be available when needed.
    Revision 19 of NUREG-1307, ``Report on Waste Burial Charges: 
Changes in Decommissioning Waste Disposal Costs at Low-Level Waste 
Burial Facilities,'' modifies the previous revision to this report 
issued in January 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21027A302) and 
incorporates updates to the adjustment factor and to the labor, energy, 
and waste burial escalation factors of the NRC minimum decommissioning 
fund formula. The minimum decommissioning fund formula amounts 
calculated by licensees using the Barnwell low-level waste disposal 
facility will be impacted by a significant increase in low-level waste 
burial charge pricing at that site. Additionally, at the nation's three 
other low-level waste disposal facilities, both moderate increases in 
some, and decreases in other, low-level waste burial charges, coupled 
with moderate increases in labor rates and near doubling of energy 
rates for all licensees, likely will result in higher formula amounts 
for all licensees. Thus, based on revised low-level waste burial 
factors presented in this report and increases in labor and energy 
rates, the minimum decommissioning fund formula amounts calculated by 
licensees will likely reflect moderate to more substantial increases 
when compared to those previously reported by licensees in 2021.

    Dated: November 23, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Trent L. Wertz,
Acting Chief, Financial Assessment Branch, Division of Rulemaking, 
Environment, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety 
and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2022-26018 Filed 11-28-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P