The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it will need to collect $728.5 million in fees to fund its operations for the current federal budget year.
That figure meets the agency’s mandate under the 1990 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act to recover 90% of its yearly funding from licensee and service fees, according to a Federal Register notice on NRC fee recovery for fiscal 2020. The remainder of the annual budget comes from congressional appropriations.
“The proposed fee rule reflects a budget authority in the amount of $855.6 million, a decrease of $55.4 million from FY 2019,” the notice says.
Within the $728.5 million in fees, $230.6 million would be derived from service fees and $497.9 million from annual fees on reactor, fuel cycle, and materials licensees.
The professional hourly rate for service fees would be $279 through Sept. 30. That would rise from $278 in fiscal 2019, which ended at the end of September 2019.
“The 0.4 percent increase in the FY 2020 professional hourly rate is due primarily to the anticipated decline in the number of mission-direct [full-time equivalents] compared to FY 2019,” the NRC said in the Federal Register.
The nuclear-industry regulator anticipates a reduction of 109 FTEs, with less staff needed following closures of three nuclear power plants, termination of construction of the Energy Department’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and other developments.
The average annual fees for fuel facilities would drop by 26%, along with smaller reductions for research and test reactors, operational power plants, and other sites.
Conversely, the NRC plans a 13.2% boost for annual fees on 122 spent fuel storage facilities and reactor decommissioning, from $152,000 to $172,000. That is projected to provide $21 million. The NRC expects to spend $37.9 million on oversight of these operations in fiscal 2020, a 6.6% boost from $35.6 million in the preceding year. The work will include inspections of preparations for decommissioning of nuclear power reactors in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, along with license renewals for a number of used-fuel storage vessels from vendors including Holtec International, NAC International, and Orano.
Comments on the proposed fee rule are being accepted through March 19, via: www.regulations.gov, Docket ID NRC–2017–0228; by email, to [email protected]; by fax, to Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 301– 415–1101; by mail, to Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff; or in person, to 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md.
Last week, the NRC issued its budget plan for the upcoming fiscal 2021. That calls for $863.4 million in total funding starting Oct. 1, encompassing a projected $740.4 million in fees and $123 million in congressional appropriations.
