The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is again considering updating rule language on financial assurance for decommissioning of nuclear power plants and other facilities to strip out any reference to credit ratings.
The update is required under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, according to a June 26 memo from NRC Executive Director for Operations Margaret Doane to the commissioners. The document was posted to the agency website on July 10.
The Dodd-Frank Act mandated that all federal agencies review their regulations for any requirement regarding “the use of an assessment of the credit-worthiness of a security … and any references to or requirements in such regulations regarding credit ratings,” Doane noted. That language was then to be stripped from the regulations in favor of other means of demonstrating credit-worthiness.
An NRC staff review determined that options under agency regulations for licensees and license applicants to demonstrate that they can pay for a decommissioning project include parent company guarantee or self-guarantee, which partially rely on credit ratings. The section of the Code of Federal Regulations on domestic licensing of byproduct material sets minimum credit ratings necessary to meet financial assurance requirements for materials, power reactor, and non-power reactor licensees, Doane wrote.
Agency staff last July submitted a direct final rule to the commission that “would remove from the NRC’s regulations those requirements that require financial tests that rely in part on credit ratings and retain those requirements that do not require these financial tests.” However, it was withdrawn to allow for stakeholder input on a potential proposed rule.
Two options are being considered: updated or all-new metrics for determining credit-worthiness, or a system for NRC staff to identify the credit-worthiness of licensees.
Staff is seeking commission approval to publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register to gather stakeholder input in preparing the new rule. The comment period would last 75 days and include a public meeting. The commission would be expected to receive a proposed rule within 12 months of the comment period.
