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 Wednesday.
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 panel Wednesday at the commission’s Regulatory Information Conference, held virtually this year.
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 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.
An NRC spokesperson told Exchange Monitor via email Thursday that the proposed rule “is aimed at establishing clear regulatory standards and milestones for nuclear plants transitioning to decommissioning.”
The proposed changes have been the subject of some controversy among NRC’s top regulators — Commissioner Jeff Baran in November called them “laissez-faire” and argued that they give industry a leg up over the agency.
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.
Updated 03/10/2022 10:06 a.m. Eastern time with comment from NRC.
