Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
3/7/2014
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s funding next year would remain relatively flat compared to previous years under the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request, submitted to Congress this week. The Commission is seeking $1.059 billion, of which only $124.2 million would be from appropriations due to the NRC collecting licensee fees. For FY 2014, the NRC received $1.056 billion, and $125.2 million in net appropriations. “This budget request will allow the NRC to continue to fulfill its vital safety and security mission on behalf of the American people,” said NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane in a statement.
Noticeably absent from the budget request were any funds earmarked for the completion of the Yucca Mountain licensing review. Last week, Macfarlane had stated in a letter to House lawmakers that she did not support asking for more appropriations for the licensing review. Macfarlane stated that as she understood the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s writ of mandamus decision compelling the NRC to complete the licensing review, the Commission is under no legal obligation to request additional funding for the review. The NRC has approximately $11.1 million in funds earmarked for the licensing review, a figure that should barely cover the completion of the Safety Evaluation Reports.
Of the $1.059 billion request, $232.2 million would be given for nuclear materials and waste while the vast majority would go to nuclear reactor safety. Money set aside for spent fuel and transportation would equal $45.3 million, down from $47.6 million in FY2014. According to the NRC, significant changes from FY 2014 to FY 2015 include “completing the near-term Waste Confidence Rule in FY 2014;, increasing funds to evaluate potential revisions of regulatory framework for extended dry spent fuel storage and subsequent transportation to support potential updates to the regulatory framework (guidance) and possible future rulemaking; increasing funds to analyze data collection, and modeling for future alternate strategies for disposal of spent fuel and high-level waste; and decreasing as a result of transitioning the Storage and Transportation Information Management System from development to operations and maintenance.”
