NRC releases fee and licensing changes

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission released an amendment of regulations regarding licensing, inspection and fees in order to account for changes in how much applicants are charged on Tuesday.

In accordance with federal law, the NRC is to collect 90 percent of its operational funds through fees on licenses, amounting to approximately $869.5 million. With billing adjustments made, the amount of funding needed amounts to $888.7 million.

The final fee rule indicates that the hourly rate has decreased by 4 percent; the hourly rate for inspection and evaluation activity has been set at $268 an hour. Overall the NRC fees will decrease 3.8 percent over the previous year for operating reactors, 1.2 percent for testing and research oriented reactors and 0.4 percent for spent fuel storage and reactor decommissioning activity under 10 CFR part 170.
   
The U.S. has 99 operating commercial reactors, four test and research reactors, 10 fuel cycle facilities, 23 spent fuel storage and decommissioning facilities, 12 uranium recovery facilities and approximately 3,000 nuclear material licenses.

The NRC said that 36 percent of fees collected are utilized to recover specific service costs and the remainder is to be paid to the U.S. Treasury's general fund.