Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff working on a proposed decommissioning rules change are planning to have the final version of the updated regulations on the commissioners’ desks by next year, the project’s manager said at an annual agency conference this week.
The final decommissioning rule, a draft of which went live for public comment March 3, should be ready for final approval by the fall of 2023, NRC project manager Daniel Doyle said during a virtual panel Wednesday at the commission’s Regulatory Information Conference (RIC). Close to the height of the COVID-19 omicron surge this winter, NRC moved the conference entirely online, canceling some planned in-person participation.
NRC is accepting comments until May 17. The agency is also planning to hold a series of public sessions on the proposed rule in the coming weeks, Doyle said.
The proposed rule, which was approved by the commission on a 2-1 vote in November, would lower certain regulatory guidelines for nuclear power operators transitioning their plants to decommissioning, such as altering emergency preparedness requirements and extending the deadline for a low-level waste shipment tracking requirement.
A spokesperson for NRC told RadWaste Monitor via email Thursday that the rule “is aimed at establishing clear regulatory standards and milestones for nuclear plants transitioning to decommissioning.”
If the decommissioning rulemaking proceeds to plan, it would appear during a “very interesting” couple of years for the NRC, Bruce Watson, the agency’s reactor decommissioning chief, said Wednesday. Between 2022 and 2024 the commission is staring down the barrel of ten license termination reviews for nuclear plants, most recently the Fort Calhoun plant in Nebraska.
Meanwhile, Commissioner David Wright, who in November voted alongside NRC Chairman Christopher Hanson to approve the proposed decommissioning rule, defended it during his Tuesday remarks at RIC.
“[I]n my time and experience with the NRC, at no time have I felt that the staff put forward a recommendation that would remove needed requirements or did not provide reasonable assurance of adequate protection,” Wright said. “Our staff are highly trained professionals, with integrity and a focus on our safety mission.”
Wright said that NRC had received feedback about the proposed rule claiming that it “does not appropriately account for risk or involve the public.”
In November, NRC Commissioner Jeff Baran blasted the decommissioning rule on Twitter, writing that the proposed changes, which included lowering certain emergency preparedness requirements and extending a reporting window for tracking shipments of low-level radioactive waste, amounted to “laissez-faire.” Baran also said the rule tipped the balance of regulation in favor of industry and away from NRC.
Wright appeared to jab at Baran’s comments at the time, telling members of Congress during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee meeting in November that he did not agree with “recent media statements and social media posts regarding NRC decisions and rulemakings suggesting that the staff’s recommendations are not safe, or simply reflect the industry viewpoint.”
NRC chair Hanson also defended the proposed rule in a November interview with RadWaste Monitor, saying it was “primarily focused on safety.”
