84 FR 26774 - Nuclear Power Plant License Fees Upon Commencing Commercial Operation

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a petition for rulemaking from Michael D. Meier on behalf of Southern Nuclear Operating Company, dated February 28, 2019, requesting that the NRC revise its regulations related to the start of assessment of annual fees for certain nuclear power plants to align with commencement of their commercial operation. The petition was docketed by the NRC on March 21, 2019, and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-171-1. The NRC is examining the issues raised in PRM-171-1 to determine whether they should be considered in rulemaking. The NRC is requesting public comment on this petition at this time.

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 111 (Monday, June 10, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26774-26775]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2019-12082]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 171

[Docket No. PRM-171-1; NRC-2019-0084]


Nuclear Power Plant License Fees Upon Commencing Commercial 
Operation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of docketing and request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a 
petition for rulemaking from Michael D. Meier on behalf of Southern 
Nuclear Operating Company, dated February 28, 2019, requesting that the 
NRC revise its regulations related to the start of assessment of annual 
fees for certain nuclear power plants to align with commencement of 
their commercial operation. The petition was docketed by the NRC on 
March 21, 2019, and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-171-1. The NRC is 
examining the issues raised in PRM-171-1 to determine whether they 
should be considered in rulemaking. The NRC is requesting public 
comment on this petition at this time.

DATES: Submit comments by July 10, 2019. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0084. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     Email comments to: [email protected]. If you

[[Page 26775]]

do not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then 
contact us at 301-415-1677.
     Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at 301-415-1101.
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
     Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) Federal 
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Huckabay, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-5183; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0084 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0084.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS 
Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public 
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or 
by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number for each 
document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first 
time that it is mentioned in this document.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2019-0084 in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. The Petitioner

    The petition was submitted by Michael D. Meier on behalf of 
Southern Nuclear Operating Company. Michael D. Meier is the Vice 
President of Regulatory Affairs for Southern Nuclear Operating Company, 
a nuclear energy facility operator.

III. The Petition

    The petitioner is requesting that the NRC revise part 171 of title 
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Annual fees for 
reactor licenses and fuel cycle licenses and materials licenses, 
including holders of certificates of compliance, registrations, and 
quality assurance program approvals and government agencies licensed by 
the NRC.'' Specifically, the petitioner is requesting that the NRC 
revise the timing of when annual license fees for holders of a combined 
license under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, certifications, and approvals 
for nuclear power plants,'' commence, to coincide with a licensee's 
commercial operation, rather than upon a 10 CFR 52.103(g) finding. The 
petition may be found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML19081A015.

IV. Discussion of the Petition

    The petitioner requests that the NRC change the start date of 
assessment of annual fees for combined license holders under part 52 to 
align with the date when a reactor is declared available for commercial 
operation, instead of the current requirement in 10 CFR 171.15(a) to 
commence at the date when the Commission has made the finding under 
Sec.  52.103(g) that all inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance 
criteria are met. The petitioner observes that a startup period of time 
is required, after the licensee receives NRC's authorization to 
operate, to complete the remaining tasks necessary to operate the power 
reactor commercially. The petitioner asserts that at the time of a 10 
CFR 52.103(g) finding, the power reactor has not yet been loaded with 
fuel, undergone startup testing, power ascension, commissioning, or 
other actions necessary to reliably generate energy for the production 
of revenue. The petitioner states that (1) a licensee may not complete 
these startup activities and achieve commercial operation until several 
months after the Sec.  52.103(g) finding is made, and (2) the licensee 
should not be subject to the annual fee required under Sec.  171.15, 
``Annual fees: Reactor licenses and independent spent fuel storage 
licenses,'' until the nuclear power plant receives financial benefit 
from commercial operation beyond minimal amounts of revenue derived 
from test energy. The petitioner also raises an issue regarding the 
fairness of charging an annual license fee before commercial operations 
commence.

V. Conclusion

    The NRC has determined that the petition meets the threshold 
sufficiency requirements for docketing a petition for rulemaking under 
10 CFR 2.803. The NRC is examining the issues raised in PRM-171-1 to 
determine whether they should be considered in rulemaking.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of June, 2019.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2019-12082 Filed 6-7-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P