[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 19, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 91436-91437]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26861]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2024-0188]


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

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft report; 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 20, 
``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 19, 2024. 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-2024-0188. 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.
     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 
Material 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-2024-0188 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-2024-0188.
     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, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. Draft NUREG-1307, Revision 20, 
``Report on Waste Burial Charges: Changes in Decommissioning Waste 
Disposal Costs at Low-Level Waste Burial Facilities,'' is available in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML24309A297.
     NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. 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.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2024-0188 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

[[Page 91437]]

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 (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 20 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 February 2023 (ADAMS Accession No. ML23044A207) and 
incorporates updates to the labor, energy, and waste burial escalation 
factors of the NRC minimum decommissioning fund formula. Due to 
moderately lower low-level waste (LLW) burial charges at two of the 
nation's four LLW disposal facilities to which a majority of licensees 
are anticipated to dispose some portion of their LLW, and slightly to 
moderately higher charges at the remaining two facilities to which a 
small number of licensees are anticipated to dispose of their LLW, the 
minimum decommissioning fund formula amounts calculated by licensees, 
based on revised LLW burial factors presented in this report, will 
likely reflect minimum decommissioning fund requirements that are 
lower, on average, when compared to those previously reported by 
licensees in 2023.

    Dated: November 13, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Frederick R. Miller,
Chief, Financial Assessment Branch, Division of Rulemaking, 
Environment, and, Financial Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety, 
and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-26861 Filed 11-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P