[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 33 (Friday, February 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10388-10389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03358]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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: NUREG; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 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: NUREG-1307, Revision 19, is available on February 17, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to NRC-2022-0190 when contacting the NRC about
the availability of information regarding this document. You may obtain
publicly available information related to this document using any of
the following methods:
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 in the For Further Information
Contact section of this document.
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 reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by
email to [email protected]. 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. ML23044A207.
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
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emil Tabakov, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6814, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
Pursuant to section 50.75 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), ``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 Revision 18 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
[[Page 10389]]
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.
II. Additional Information
The NRC published a notice in the Federal Register on November 29,
2022 (87 FR 73345) requesting public comment on draft NUREG-1307,
Revision 19, ``Report on Waste Burial Charges: Changes in
Decommissioning Waste Disposal Costs at Low-Level Waste Burial
Facilities.'' The public comment period closed on December 29, 2022.
The NRC received four public comments. The public comments and the NRC
staff's responses are presented in a comment resolution matrix
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML23038A239. The staff
considered the public comments received on the draft document in
preparing final NUREG-1307, Revision 19.
Dated: February 13, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Frederick R. Miller,
Chief, Financial Assessment Branch, Division of Rulemaking,
Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023-03358 Filed 2-16-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P