The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is taking the next step toward revising some of its rules that apply to commercial power reactors that are being retired and entering decommissioning. The NRC, in the Monday edition of the Federal Register, is publishing a regulatory basis to support a rulemaking on decommissioning.
With early retirements being announced for an increasing number of reactors in recent years, NRC has been under pressure to reconsider the practicality of certain requirements for decommissioned reactors.
The NRC staff has, in recent years, identified a number of changes connected with emergency planning, recordkeeping requirements, and other areas that could reduce the need for companies to request exemptions from the current rules, according to the Federal Register notice.
Among other things, NRC is looking at a “graded approach” to emergency planning for retired reactors, and whether to keep the requirement that a licensee’s post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR) to be approved by the NRC.
The NRC staff believes that it has justification to go ahead with rulemaking in the areas of emergency preparation, physical security, cyber security, drug and alcohol testing, training requirements for certified fuel handlers and certain financial other areas, including financial rules, according to the notice.
NRC expects to publish a proposed rule in 2018.
In December 2014, the commission told NRC staff to start preparing a rulemaking on decommissioning. It came after a Duke Energy subsidiary in Florida asked for some exemptions from some emergency preparation requirements. In November 2015, NRC issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to seek stakeholder feedback.
Many comments surrounded use of decommissioning trust money, level of public involvement in the plant cleanup process, the 60-year limit for power reactor decommissioning, and the NRC’s approval of the PSDAR.
Then on March 15 of this year, NRC held a 90-day comment period on areas tackled in the draft regulatory basis.
More information is available by contacting NRC’s Alysia G. Bone, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-1034, or email: [email protected].
