The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is requesting $863.4 million in funding for the upcoming 2021 fiscal year, a small step up from the $855.6 million authorized by Congress for the current spending cycle.
But the agency noted Monday that it has decreased its budget by 17% since fiscal 2014. In that time, the number of full-time equivalent personnel has also dropped by one-quarter, to 2,970 as of fiscal 2020. The new budget proposal would drop that further to 2,868.
Should Congress pass the request, the NRC would actually end up with $32.2 million less than it has on hand now. The nuclear-industry regulator entered fiscal 2020 on Oct. 1 with a $40 million carryover that it does anticipate matching next year, according to its spending plan.
The industry regulator is not requesting any appropriation for its high-level waste line item – the money that would be used for reviewing the Department of Energy’s license application for the nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain, Nev. After three unsuccessful attempts to persuade Congress to provide money to resume the licensing proceeding after a decade-long freeze, the Trump administration is now instead focusing on interim storage of radioactive waste.
That primarily involves a $27.5 million ask for the Interim Storage and Nuclear Waste Fund Oversight program at DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
At the NRC, the Nuclear Materials and Waste Safety line item would receive $125.6 million and 462 full-time equivalent staffers, if Congress approves the budget. That would be $5.4 million more in funding but 19 fewer FTEs.
The program covers licensing and regulatory oversight of spent fuel storage, spent fuel transportation, decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear facilities, high-level and low-level radioactive waste, and other operations.
The NRC receives most of its funding from fees for its services for licensees and others. For fiscal 2021, it anticipates $740.4 million in fees and $123 million in congressional appropriations.
