80_FR_68481 80 FR 68268 - Variable Annual Fee Structure for Small Modular Reactors

80 FR 68268 - Variable Annual Fee Structure for Small Modular Reactors

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 213 (November 4, 2015)

Page Range68268-68274
FR Document2015-28110

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its licensing, inspection, and annual fee regulations to establish a variable annual fee structure for light-water small modular reactors (SMR). Under the proposed variable annual fee structure, an SMR's annual fee would be calculated as a function of its licensed thermal power rating. This proposed fee methodology complies with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, as amended (OBRA-90). The NRC will hold a public meeting to promote full understanding of the proposed rule and to facilitate public comments.

Federal Register, Volume 80 Issue 213 (Wednesday, November 4, 2015)
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 213 (Wednesday, November 4, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 68268-68274]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-28110]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 213 / Wednesday, November 4, 2015 / 
Proposed Rules

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Parts 170 and 171

[NRC-2008-0664]
RIN 3150-AI54


Variable Annual Fee Structure for Small Modular Reactors

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to 
amend its licensing, inspection, and annual fee regulations to 
establish a variable annual fee structure for light-water small modular 
reactors (SMR). Under the proposed variable annual fee structure, an 
SMR's annual fee would be calculated as a function of its licensed 
thermal power rating. This proposed fee methodology complies with the 
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, as amended (OBRA-90). The 
NRC will hold a public meeting to promote full understanding of the 
proposed rule and to facilitate public comments.

DATES: Submit comments by December 4, 2015. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practicable to do so, but the NRC 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date. For additional information about the public meeting, see 
Section XII, ``Public Meeting,'' of this document.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specific subject):
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0664. 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 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: Arlette Howard, Office of the Chief 
Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-1481, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Summary

    The NRC anticipates that it will soon receive license applications 
for light-water SMRs. In fiscal year (FY) 2008, the NRC staff 
determined that the annual fee structure for part 171 of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) fees, which was established in 
1995, should be reevaluated to address potential inequities for future 
SMRs, due to their anticipated design characteristics. These 
characteristics include modular design, factory component fabrication, 
and thermal power capacities of 1,000 megawatts thermal (MWt) or less 
per module. These SMRs also may include safety and security design 
features that could ultimately result in a lower regulatory oversight 
burden for this type of reactor. Despite these significant differences, 
under the NRC's current fee structure, an SMR would be required to pay 
the same annual fee as a current operating reactor. OBRA-90 instructs 
the NRC to ``establish, by rule, a schedule of charges fairly and 
equitably allocating'' various generic agency regulatory costs ``among 
licensees'' and, ``[t]o the maximum extent practicable, the charges 
shall have a reasonable relationship to the cost of providing 
regulatory services and may be based on the allocation of the 
Commission's resources among licensees or classes of licensees.'' 
Because of the significant anticipated differences between SMRs and the 
existing reactor fleet, applying the current fee structure to SMRs 
appears to be contrary to OBRA-90's requirement that the NRC's fees be 
``fairly and equitably'' allocated among its licensees. Therefore, the 
NRC proposes to implement a variable annual fee structure for SMR 
licensees that would include a minimum fee, a variable fee, and a 
maximum fee based on an SMR site's cumulative licensed thermal power 
rating.
    A draft regulatory analysis (Accession No. ML15226A588 in the NRC's 
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS)) has been 
developed for this proposed rulemaking and is available for public 
comment (see Section XIII, Availability of Documents).

Table of Contents

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
    A. Obtaining Information
    B. Submitting Comments
II. Background
    A. Operating Reactor Annual Fee Structure
    B. Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Regarding an Annual Fee 
Structure for SMRs
    C. Evaluation of Four Alternative Annual Fee Structures for SMRs
    D. Preferred Approach for an Annual Fee Structure for SMRs
III. Discussion
    A. What action is the NRC proposing to take?
    B. When would these actions become effective?
    C. What should I consider as I prepare my comments to the NRC?
IV. Discussion of Proposed Amendments by Section
V. Draft Regulatory Analysis
VI. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
VII. Backfitting and Issue Finality
VIII. Plain Writing
IX. National Environmental Policy Act
X. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
XI. Voluntary Consensus Standards
XII. Public Meeting
XIII. Availability of Documents

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0664 when contacting the NRC 
about

[[Page 68269]]

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 Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0664.
     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 ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then 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 in this document 
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that a document is referenced. For the convenience of the reader, the 
ADAMS accession numbers are provided in a table in the ``Availability 
of Documents'' section of 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-2008-0664 in the subject line of your 
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make 
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
    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, and 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. Background

A. Operating Reactor Annual Fee Structure

    Over the past 40 years the NRC has assessed, and continues to 
assess, fees to applicants and licensees to recover the cost of its 
regulatory program. The NRC's fee regulations are governed by two laws: 
(1) The Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 1952 (IOAA) (31 
U.S.C. 483 (a)); and (2) OBRA-90 (42 U.S.C. 2214). Under OBRA-90, the 
NRC is required to recover approximately 90 percent of its annual 
budget authority through fees, not including amounts appropriated for 
Waste Incidental to Reprocessing, amounts appropriated for generic 
homeland security activities (non-fee items), amounts appropriated from 
the Nuclear Waste Fund, and amounts appropriated for Inspector General 
services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.
    The NRC assesses two types of fees to meet the requirements of 
OBRA-90. First, licensing and inspection fees, established in 10 CFR 
part 170 under the authority of the IOAA, recover the NRC's cost of 
providing specific benefits to identifiable applicants and licensees. 
Second, annual fees, established in 10 CFR part 171 under the authority 
of OBRA-90, recover NRC's generic and other regulatory costs that are 
not otherwise recovered through 10 CFR part 170 fees during the fiscal 
year.
    Under the current annual fee structure, SMRs would be required to 
pay the same annual fee as those paid by the operating reactor fee 
class. For the operating reactor fee class, the NRC allocates 10 CFR 
part 171 annual fees equally among the operating power reactor 
licensees to recover those budgetary resources expended for rulemaking 
and other generic activities which benefit the entire fee class. If 10 
CFR part 171, in its current form, is applied to SMRs, then each SMR 
reactor would be required to pay the same flat annual fees as the 
existing operating reactor fleet, even though SMRs are expected to be 
considerably smaller in size and are expected to utilize designs that 
may reduce the NRC's regulatory costs per reactor.
    Additionally, under the current annual fee structure, multimodule 
nuclear plants would be assessed annual fees on a per-licensed-module 
basis, as stated in the draft regulatory analysis, in the section 
titled ``Identification and Preliminary Analysis of Alternative 
Approaches.'' For example, an SMR site with 12 licensed SMR modules 
with low thermal power ratings would have to pay 12 times the annual 
fee paid by a single large operating reactor, even if that single 
reactor had higher thermal power rating than the combined power of the 
12 SMR modules; this disparity raises fairness and equity concerns 
under OBRA-90. The SMR licensees could apply for fee exemptions to 
lower their annual fees; however, fee exceptions are appropriate only 
for unanticipated or rare situations. OBRA-90 requires NRC to 
establish, by rule, a schedule of charges fairly and equitably 
allocating annual fees among its licensees. If the NRC anticipates up-
front that its annual fee schedule will not be fair and equitable as 
applied to a particular class of licensees, then amending the schedule, 
rather than planning to rely on the exemption process, is the better 
course of action for complying with OBRA-90.

B. Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Regarding an Annual Fee 
Structure for SMRs

    In order to address any potential inequities described above, the 
NRC began re-evaluating its annual fee structure as it relates to SMRs. 
In March 2009, the NRC published an Advance Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (ANPR) for a variable annual fee structure for power 
reactors in the Federal Register (74 FR 12735, March 25, 2009). 
Although the ANPR nominally addressed the fee methodology used for all 
power reactors, its principal focus was on how to best adapt the 
existing fee methodology for future SMRs.
    The NRC received 16 public comments on the ANPR from licensees, 
industry groups, and private individuals. These comments provided a 
wide range of input for agency consideration. Nine commenters supported 
adjusting the current power reactor annual fee methodology for small 
and medium-sized power reactors by some means. These commenters 
suggested basing the annual fee on either: (a) A risk matrix, (b) the 
thermal power ratings (in megawatts thermal, MWt), (c) the cost of 
providing regulatory service, or d) an amount proportional to the size 
of the system based on megawatt (MW) ratings compared to a fixed 
baseline. Three commenters representing small reactor design vendors 
supported a variable fee rate structure as a means to mitigate the 
impacts of the existing fee structure on potential customers of their 
small reactor designs.
    Other commenters not supporting the variable annual fee structure 
recommended the following changes to the fee methodology: (a) 
Reinstatement of reactor size as a factor in evaluating fee exemption 
requests under 10 CFR

[[Page 68270]]

171.11(c), (b) establishment of power reactor subclasses, or (c) 
performance of additional analysis before making any changes to the 
current fee structure. Two commenters expressed an unwillingness to 
subsidize operating SMRs at the expense of their own businesses and 
believed that the flat-rate methodology provided regulatory certainty 
and assisted the ability to make ongoing financial plans.
    In September 2009, the NRC staff submitted SECY-09-0137, ``Next 
Steps for Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Variable Annual Fee 
Structure for Power Reactors,'' to the Commission for a notation vote 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML092660166). The paper summarized the comments 
received in response to the ANPR and requested Commission approval to 
form a working group to analyze the commenters' suggested 
methodologies. The Commission approved the staff's recommendation in 
the October 13, 2009, Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM) for SECY-09-
0137 (ADAMS Accession No. ML092861070).

C. Evaluation of Four Alternative Annual Fee Structures for SMRs

    The NRC subsequently formed a working group to analyze the ANPR 
comments, as well as position papers submitted to the NRC from the 
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), ``NRC Annual Fee Assessment for Small 
Reactors,'' dated October 2010 (ADAMS Accession No. ML103070148); and 
from the American Nuclear Society (ANS), ``Interim Report of the 
American Nuclear Society President's Special Committee on Small and 
Medium Sized Reactor (SMR) Generic Licensing Issues,'' dated July 2010 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML110040946).
    Four possible alternatives emerged from the working group's 
analysis of the public comments and the NEI and ANS position papers:
    1. Continue the existing annual fee structure, but define a modular 
site of up to 12 reactors or 4,000 MWt licensed power rating as a 
single unit for annual fee purposes.
    2. Create fee classes for groups of reactor licensees and 
distribute the annual fee costs attributed to each fee class equally 
among the licensees in that class.
    3. Calculate the annual fee for each licensed power reactor as a 
function of potential risk to public health and safety using a risk 
matrix.
    4. Calculate the annual fee for each licensed power reactor as a 
function of its licensed thermal power rating.
    The NRC staff further concluded that the original Alternative 3, 
which calculated the annual fee for each SMR as a function of its 
potential risk to public health and safety using a risk matrix, did not 
warrant further consideration and analysis because of the technical 
complexities and potential costs of developing the probalistic risk 
assessments necessary to implement this alternative.

D. Preferred Approach for an Annual Fee Structure for SMRs

    The working group examined the alternatives and informed the NRC's 
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) that Alternative 4 was the working 
group's preferred recommendation because it allows SMRs to be assessed 
specific fee amounts based on their licensed thermal power ratings 
(measured in MWt) on a variable scale with a minimum fee and a maximum 
fee. Additionally, the variable portion of the fee allows for multiple 
licensed SMR reactors on a single site to be treated as a single 
reactor for fee purposes up to 4,000 MWt. The working group determined 
that these attributes best align with NRC requirements under OBRA-90.
    The CFO submitted the final recommendations to the Commission in an 
informational memorandum dated February 7, 2011, ``Resolution of Issue 
Regarding Variable Annual Fee Structure for Small and Medium-Sized 
Nuclear Power Reactors'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML110380251). The 
memorandum described the results of the working group's efforts and its 
recommendation that the annual fee structure for SMRs be calculated for 
each newly licensed power reactor as a function of its licensed thermal 
power rating. The memorandum indicated that the staff intended to 
obtain Commission approval for the planned approach during the process 
for developing the proposed rule.
    In FY 2014, the staff reviewed the analysis and recommendations in 
the 2011 memorandum and determined that they remained sound. However, 
the working group identified one additional area for consideration 
related to the maximum thermal power rating eligible for a single 
annual fee.
    In the FY 2011 memorandum, the CFO proposed an upper threshold of 
4,000 MWt for multi-module power plants to be allocated a single annual 
fee. This value was comparable to the largest operating reactor units 
at the time (Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station Units 1, 2, and 3 at 
3,990 MWt each). Subsequently, a power uprate was approved for Grand 
Gulf Nuclear Station, Unit 1, which raised the maximum licensed thermal 
power rating to 4,408 MWt. Therefore, the working group recommended 
setting the single-fee threshold for a multi-module nuclear plant at 
4,500 MWt on the SMR variable annual fee structure scale so that the 
maximum fee remains aligned with the largest licensed power reactor.
    With this change, the staff submitted final recommendations to the 
Commission and requested approval to proceed with a proposed rulemaking 
for an SMR annual fee structure in a memorandum dated March 27, 2015, 
``Proposed Variable Annual Fee Structure for Small Modular Reactors'' 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML15051A092). The Commission approved the staff's 
request to proceed with a proposed rulemaking on May 18, 2015, in SRM-
SECY-15-0044 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15135A427).

III. Discussion

A. What action is the NRC proposing to take?

    Based on the Commission's approval in SRM-SECY-15-0044, May 18, 
2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15135A427), the NRC staff is proposing to 
implement a variable annual fee structure for SMRs. As detailed in the 
draft regulatory analysis, the NRC determined the current annual fee 
structure may not be fair and equitable for assessing fees to SMRs 
based on the unique size and characteristics of SMRs.
    As explained in the Background section of this proposed rule, the 
NRC staff previously solicited public input regarding an annual fee 
structure for SMRs via an ANPR, and the NRC staff submitted two papers 
to the Commission discussing alternative annual fee structures which 
resulted in the recommendation of the variable annual fee structure as 
the preferred approach. In FY 2015, for this proposed rule and draft 
regulatory analysis, the NRC staff further refined the original 
alternatives and concluded that a ``no action alternative'' should be 
added to serve as the baseline to compare against all other 
alternatives for this proposed rulemaking.
    Therefore, the four alternatives analyzed for this rulemaking are 
as follows:
    1. No action.
    2. Continue the existing annual fee structure for all reactors but 
allow for ``bundling'' of SMR reactor modules up to a total of 4,500 
MWt as a single SMR ``bundled unit.''
    3. Continue the existing annual fee structure for the current fleet 
of operating power reactors but establish a third fee class for SMRs 
with fees commensurate with the budgetary resources allocated to SMRs.

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    4. Continue the existing annual fee structure for the current fleet 
of operating power reactors but calculate the annual fee for each SMR 
site as a multi-part fee which includes minimum fee, variable fee and 
maximum fee.
    As explained in the draft regulatory analysis for this proposed 
rule, the NRC staff analyzed Alternative 1 (the no action alternative) 
and has concluded that this alternative continues to be a fair, 
equitable and stable approach for the existing fleet of reactors. This 
is because previous agency efforts to manage cost and fee allocations 
at a more granular level proved to be labor intensive and resulted in 
minimal additional benefits to licensees when compared to the flat-fee 
approach (60 FR 32230; June 20, 1995). But for SMRs, the current fee 
structure could produce such a large disparity between the annual fees 
paid by a licensee and the economic benefits that the licensee gained 
from using the license that it would be contrary to OBRA-90. For 
example, a hypothetical SMR site with twelve SMR reactor modules would 
have to pay twelve times the annual fee paid by a single current 
operating reactor--almost $54 million per year based on FY 2015 fee 
rule data. By comparison, Fort Calhoun, the smallest reactor in the 
current operating fleet, would pay approximately $4.5 million in annual 
fees. Such a result would be contrary to OBRA-90's requirement to 
establish a fair fee schedule, and therefore the no action alternative 
is unacceptable.
    Small modular reactor licensees could apply for annual fee 
exemptions under 10 CFR 171.11(c). The fee exemption criteria considers 
the age of the reactor, number of customers in the licensee's rate 
base, how much the annual fee would add to the per kilowatt-hour (kWh) 
cost of electricity, and other relevant issues. But as described in 
SECY-15-0044, there are no guarantees that an application for an 
exemption would be approved, decreasing regulatory certainty. And, 
OBRA-90 requires the NRC to establish, by rule, a schedule of charges 
fairly and equitably allocating annual fees among its licensees. 
Therefore, if the NRC anticipates up-front that its annual fee schedule 
will not be fair and equitable as applied to a particular class of 
licensees, then amending the schedule, rather than planning to rely on 
the exemption process, is the far better course for complying with 
OBRA-90.
    Also, as explained in the draft regulatory analysis for this 
proposed rule, the NRC staff evaluated Alternative 2, which continues 
the existing annual fee structure for all reactors and allows for the 
bundling of the thermal ratings of SMRs on a single site up to total 
licensed thermal power rating of up to 4,500 MWt, which is roughly 
equivalent to the licensed thermal power rating of the largest reactor 
in the current fleet. Alternative 2 provides more fairness to SMRs than 
Alternative 1 because it allows SMR licensees to bundle their SMRs on a 
single site. For smaller SMR facilities, however, Alternative 2 would 
still create great disparities among facilities in terms of the annual 
fees they pay relative to the economic benefits they stand to gain from 
their NRC licenses. Consider, for illustrative purposes, an SMR site 
with only one NuScale reactor module. This licensee for this site would 
still be required to pay the full annual fee but could only spread the 
fee over 160 MWt-about $31,123 per MWt as explained in the draft 
regulatory analysis. In contrast, the licensee for an SMR site 
featuring 12 NuScale reactor modules would pay only $2,594 per MWt in 
annual fees as explained in the draft regulatory analysis. Alternative 
2, therefore, goes only part of the way towards addressing the fairness 
and equity concerns that prompted this rulemaking, while leaving 
significant potential for disparities from one SMR licensee to another, 
in terms of the economic benefits the licensee would be able to receive 
from its NRC license relative to the annual fees assessed. As with 
Alternative 1, SMR licensees could apply for annual fee exemptions 
under 10 CFR 171.11(c). But again there are no guarantees that an 
exemption would be approved, decreasing regulatory certainty. For these 
reasons, and as further explained in the draft regulatory analysis, the 
NRC staff finds Alternative 2 to be an unacceptable approach.
    Alternative 3, as explained in the draft regulatory analysis for 
this proposed rule, would entail creating a separate fee class for SMRs 
with fees commensurate with the budgetary resources allocated to SMRs, 
similar to the operating reactor and research and test reactors fee 
classes. This alternative would establish a flat annual fee that is 
assessed equally among the licensees in the SMR class. Although this 
approach has proven to be fair and equitable for the current fee 
classes, this approach applied to SMRs would be unfair due to the 
potential various sizes and types of SMR designs. In particular, a 
single per-reactor fee could prove unduly burdensome to SMRs with low 
thermal power ratings (such as 160 MWt for a single NuScale SMR) when 
compared to SMRs with higher rated capacities (such as 800 MWt for a 
single Westinghouse SMR). Additionally, Alternative 3 is similar to the 
``no action'' alternative in the sense that fees are based per licensed 
reactor or module rather than on the cumulative licensed thermal power 
rating. This alternative, therefore, fails to address the fee disparity 
created for SMRs using multiple small modules rather than fewer, larger 
reactors with a similar cumulative thermal power rating. It is the 
NRC's intent to select an SMR fee alternative that is fair and 
equitable for the broadest possible range of SMR designs. Flat-rate 
alternatives such as this one are inconsistent with the ``fair and 
equitable'' requirements of OBRA-90 when applied to a fee class with 
the wide range of SMR thermal power capacities as described by reactor 
designers to date. As with the previous alternatives, SMR licensees 
could apply for annual fee exemptions under 10 CFR 171.11(c). But again 
there are no guarantees that an exemption would be approved, decreasing 
regulatory certainty. For these reasons, and as further explained in 
the draft regulatory analysis, Alternative 3 is an unacceptable 
approach.
    Ultimately, the NRC staff analyzed the mechanics of the variable 
annual fee structure under Alternative 4 and determined that it is the 
best approach for assessing fees to SMRs in a fair and equitable manner 
under OBRA-90. Unlike the current fee structure, this approach 
recognizes the anticipated unique characteristics of SMRs in relation 
to the existing fleet. In comparison to Alternative 2, this approach 
ensures that all SMRs are treated fairly, rather than just those whose 
licensed thermal power rating ranges between 2,000-4,500 MWt. Unlike 
Alternative 3, the variable annual fee structure assesses a range of 
annual fees to SMRs based on licensed thermal power rating, rather than 
assessing a single flat fee that could apply to potentially a very wide 
range of SMRs.
    The variable annual fee structure computes SMR annual fees on a 
site basis, considering all SMRs on the site up to a total licensed 
thermal power rating of up to 4,500 MWt to be a single bundled unit 
that would pay the same fee as the current operating fleet. The 
variable annual fee structure has three parts; a minimum annual fee 
(the average of the research and test reactor fee class and the spent 
fuel storage/reactor decommissioning fee class), a variable fee charged 
on a per-MWt basis for bundled units in a particular size range below 
the typical current operating fleet reactor size, and a maximum annual 
fee equivalent to the

[[Page 68272]]

annual fee charged to current operating fleet reactors.
    Bundled units with a total licensed thermal power rating at or 
below 250 MWt would pay a flat minimum fee; for example, based on FY 
2015 fee rule data, the fee would be $154K as explained in the draft 
regulatory analysis. This minimum fee is consistent with the principle 
that reactor-related licensees in existing low-fee classes may not 
generate substantial revenue, yet still derive benefits from NRC 
activities performed on generic work. Therefore, they must pay more 
than a de minimis part of the NRC's generic costs. By calculating the 
minimum fee for SMRs within the range of annual fees paid by other low-
fee reactor classes, this methodology satisfies OBRA-90's fairness and 
equity requirements because it ensures consistent NRC treatment for 
low-power and low-revenue reactors.
    Fees for bundled units with a total licensed thermal power rating 
greater than 250 MWt and less than or equal to 2,000 MWt would be 
computed as the minimum fee plus a variable fee based on the bundled 
unit's cumulative licensed thermal power rating. The variable fee 
should generally correlate with the economic benefits the licensee is 
able to derive from its NRC license and will ensure that similarly 
rated SMRs pay comparable fees.
    For a bundled unit with a licensed thermal power rating comparable 
to a typical large light-water reactor that is greater than 2,000 MWt 
and less than or equal to 4,500 MWt, the maximum annual fee assessed to 
the licensee would be the same fee that would be paid by a reactor 
licensee in the current operating fleet. This approach ensures 
comparable fee treatment of facilities that stand to derive comparable 
economic benefits from their NRC-licensed activities.
    For SMR sites with a licensed thermal power rating that exceeds 
4,500 MWt, the licensee would be assessed the maximum fee for the first 
bundled unit, plus a variable annual fee for the portion of the thermal 
rating above the 4,500 MWt and less than or equal to 6,500 MWt for a 
second bundled unit (the licensee would not incur a second minimum fee 
for the same SMR site). If a site rating exceeds the 6,500 MWt level 
and it less than or equal to 9,000 MWt, the maximum fee would be 
assessed for each bundled unit. The NRC considered avoiding the second 
variable portion of the fee structure and simply doubling the annual 
maximum fee for the second bundled unit; however, this would be unfair 
if the site's second bundled unit had a small licensed thermal power 
rating. Similar to the other three alternative fee structures, this 
method would have failed to address the inequity of the size of the 
bundled unit versus the size of the fee the licensee would have to pay.
    Therefore, as demonstrated in the draft regulatory analysis, the 
NRC staff concludes the variable annual fee structure allows SMRs to 
pay an annual fee that is commensurate with the economic benefit 
received from its license and that appropriately accounts for the 
design characteristics and current expectations regarding regulatory 
costs. This complies with OBRA-90's requirement to establish a fee 
schedule that fairly and equitably allocates NRC's fees.

B. When would these actions become effective?

    Generally, the NRC allows an adequate time (30 to 180 days) for a 
final rule to become effective. The time for the final rule to become 
effective depends on the scope of the rulemaking, the availability of 
associated guidance, and the complexity of the final rule. With regard 
to this proposed rule, the NRC proposes that the final rule become 
effective 30 days from its publication in the Federal Register.

C. What should I consider as I prepare my comments to the NRC?

    When submitting your comments, remember to:
    1. Identify the rulemaking (RIN 3150-AI54) and Docket ID NRC-2008-
0664)
    2. Explain why you agree or disagree with the proposed rule; 
suggest alternatives and substitute language for your requested 
changes.
    3. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information 
and/or data that you used.
    4. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you 
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
    5. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
    6. Explain your views as clearly as possible.
    7. Submit your comments by the comment period deadline as stated in 
the DATES section of this proposed rule.

IV. Discussion of Proposed Amendments by Section

    The following paragraphs describe the specific changes proposed by 
this rulemaking.
Section 170.3 Definitions
    The NRC proposes to add definitions for ``bundled unit,'' ``small 
modular reactor (SMR),'' and ``small modular reactor site (SMR site).''
Section 171.5 Definitions
    The NRC proposes to add definitions for ``bundled unit,'' ``maximum 
fee,'' ``minimum fee,'' ``small modular reactor (SMR),'' ``small 
modular reactor site (SMR site),'' ``variable fee,'' and ``variable 
rate.''
Section 171.15 Annual Fees: Reactor Licenses and Independent Spent Fuel 
Storage Licenses
    The NRC proposes to redesignate current paragraph (e) as new 
paragraph (f) and add new paragraphs (e)(1), (e)(2) and (e)(3) to 
define activities that comprise SMR annual fees and the time period the 
NRC must collect annual fees from SMR licensees.

V. Draft Regulatory Analysis

    The NRC has prepared a draft regulatory analysis on this proposed 
regulation. The analysis examines the costs and benefits of the 
alternatives considered by the NRC. The NRC requests public comment on 
the draft regulatory analysis. The draft regulatory analysis is 
available as indicated in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of 
this document. Comments on the draft analysis may be submitted to the 
NRC as indicated under the ADDRESSES section of this document.

VI. Regulatory Flexibility Certification

    As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 
605(b), the Commission certifies that this rule, if adopted, will not 
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. This proposed rule affects only the licensing and operation 
of nuclear power plants. The companies that own these plants do not 
fall within the scope of the definition of ``small entities'' set forth 
in the Regulatory Flexibility Act or the size standards established by 
the NRC (10 CFR 2.810).

VII. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    The NRC has determined that the backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109, does 
not apply to this proposed rule and that a backfit analysis is not 
required. A backfit analysis is not required because these amendments 
do not require the modification of, or addition to, systems, 
structures, components, or the design of a facility, or the design 
approval or manufacturing license for a facility, or the procedures or 
organization required to design, construct, or operate a facility.

[[Page 68273]]

VIII. Plain Writing

    The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-274) requires Federal 
agencies to write documents in a clear, concise, and well-organized 
manner. The NRC has written this document to be consistent with the 
Plain Writing Act as well as the Presidential Memorandum, ``Plain 
Language in Government Writing,'' published June 10, 1998 (63 FR 
31883). The NRC requests comment on the proposed rule with respect to 
the clarity and effectiveness of the language used.

IX. National Environmental Policy Act

    The NRC has determined that this proposed rule is the type of 
action described in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(1). Therefore, neither an 
environmental impact statement nor environmental assessment has been 
prepared for this proposed rule.

X. Paperwork Reduction Act

    This proposed rule does not contain a collection of information as 
defined in the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) 
and, therefore, is not subject to the requirements of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995.

XI. Voluntary Consensus Standards

    The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, 
Public Law 104-113, requires that Federal agencies use technical 
standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus 
standards bodies unless the use of such a standard is inconsistent with 
applicable law or otherwise impractical. In this proposed rule, the NRC 
is proposing amend its licensing, inspection, and annual fee 
regulations to establish a variable annual fee structure for SMRs. This 
action does not constitute the establishment of a standard that 
contains generally applicable requirements.

XII. Public Meeting

    The NRC will hold a public meeting to describe and explain the 
rationale for the variable annual fee structure and to accept questions 
from the public on this proposed rule.
    The NRC will publish a notice of the location, time, and agenda of 
the meeting in the Federal Register, on Regulations.gov, and on the 
NRC's public meeting Web site at least 10 calendar days before the 
meeting. Stakeholders should monitor the NRC's public meeting Web site 
for information about the public meeting at: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm.

XIII. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons as indicated.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Document                        ADAMS Accession No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary of ANPR Comments..............  ML14307A812.
ANS Position Paper, ``NRC Annual Fees   ML110040946.
 for Licensees''.
NEI Position Paper, ``NRC Annual Fee    ML103070148.
 Assessment for Small Reactors''.       ML110380260.
Memorandum to the Commission,           ML110380251.
 ``Resolution of Issue Regarding
 Variable Annual Fee Structure for
 Small and Medium-Sized Nuclear Power
 Reactors,'' February 7, 2011.
SECY-15-0044, ``Proposed Variable       ML15051A092.
 Annual Fee Structure for Small
 Modular Reactors'', March 27, 2015.
Staff Requirements Memorandum--SECY-15- ML15135A427.
 0044, ``Proposed Variable Annual Fee
 Structure for Small Modular
 Reactors'', May 15, 2015.
Draft Regulatory Analysis for Proposed  ML15226A588.
 Changes to 10 CFR Part 171 ``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''.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Throughout the development of this rule, the NRC may post documents 
related to this rule, including public comments, on the Federal 
rulemaking Web site at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-
2008-0664. The Federal rulemaking Web site allows you to receive alerts 
when changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To subscribe: (1) 
Navigate to the docket folder NRC-2008-0664; (2) click the ``Sign up 
for Email Alerts'' link; and (3) enter your email address and select 
how frequently you would like to receive emails (daily, weekly, or 
monthly).

List of Subjects

10 CFR Part 170

    Byproduct material, Import and export licenses, Intergovernmental 
relations, Non-payment penalties, Nuclear energy, Nuclear materials, 
Nuclear power plants and reactors, Source material, Special nuclear 
material.

10 CFR Part 171

    Annual charges, Byproduct material, Holders of certificates, 
registrations, approvals, Intergovernmental relations, Nonpayment 
penalties, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants and reactors, Source 
material, Special nuclear material.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of 
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy Reorganization 
Act of 1974, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553, the NRC is proposing 
to adopt the following amendments to 10 CFR parts 170 and 171:

PART 170--FEES FOR FACILITIES, MATERIALS IMPORT AND EXPORT LICENSES 
AND OTHER REGULATORY SERVICES UNDER THE ATOMIC ENERGY ACT OF 1954, 
AS AMENDED

0
1. The authority citation for part 170 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 11, 161(w) (42 
U.S.C. 2014, 2201(w)); Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, sec. 201 
(42 U.S.C. 5841); 42 U.S.C. 2214; 31 U.S.C. 901, 902, 9701; 44 
U.S.C. 3504 note.

0
2. In Sec.  170.3, add, in alphabetical order, the definitions for 
bundled unit, small modular reactor (SMR), and small modular reactor 
site (SMR site) to read as follows:


Sec.  170.3  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Bundled unit is a measure of the cumulative licensed thermal power 
rating for one or more SMRs located on a single SMR site. One bundled 
unit is less than or equal to 4,500 MWt.
* * * * *
    Small modular reactor (SMR) for the purposes of calculating fees, 
means the class of light-water power reactors having a licensed thermal 
power rating less than or equal to 1,000 MWt per module. This rating is 
based on the thermal power equivalent of a light-water SMR with an 
electrical power

[[Page 68274]]

generating capacity of 300 MWe or less per module.
    Small modular reactor site (SMR site) is the geographically bounded 
location of one or more SMRs and a basis on which SMR fees are 
calculated.
* * * * *

PART 171--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

0
3. The authority citation for part 171 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 11, 161(w), 223, 
234 (42 U.S.C. 2014, 2201(w), 2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization Act 
of 1974, sec. 201 (42 U.S.C. 5841); 42 U.S.C. 2214; 44 U.S.C. 3504 
note.

0
4. In Sec.  171.5, add, in alphabetical order, the definitions for 
bundled unit, maximum fee, minimum fee, small modular reactor (SMR), 
small modular reactor site (SMR site), variable fee and variable rate 
to read as follows:


Sec.  171.5  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Bundled unit means a measure of the cumulative licensed thermal 
power rating for one or more SMRs located on a single SMR site. One 
bundled unit is less than or equal to 4,500 MWt.
* * * * *
    Maximum fee is defined as the highest fee paid by a single bundled 
unit. It is applied to all bundled units on an SMR site with a licensed 
thermal power rating greater than 2,000 and less than or equal to 4,500 
MWt and is equal to the annual fee paid by existing fleet power 
reactors.
    Minimum fee means one annual fee component paid by the first 
bundled unit on a site with a cumulative licensed thermal power rating 
of 2,000 MWt or less. For the first bundled unit on a site with a 
licensed thermal power rating of 250 MWt or less, it is the only annual 
fee that a licensee pays.
* * * * *
    Small modular reactor (SMR) for the purposes of calculating fees, 
means the class of light-water power reactors having a licensed thermal 
power rating less than or equal to 1,000 MWt per module. This rating is 
based on the thermal power equivalent of a light-water SMR with an 
electrical power generating capacity of 300 MWe or less per module.
    Small modular reactor site (SMR site) means the geographical 
bounded location of one or more SMRs and a basis on which SMR fees are 
calculated.
* * * * *
    Variable fee means the annual fee component paid by the first 
bundled unit on a site with a licensed thermal power rating greater 
than 250 and less than or equal to 2,000 MWt. For additional bundled 
units on a site, the variable fee is calculated based on the licensed 
thermal power rating equal to or less 2,000 MWt.
    Variable rate means a per-MWt fee factor applied to the first 
bundled unit on a site with a licensed thermal power rating greater 
than 250 and or less than or equal to 2,000 MWt, or to additional 
bundled units on a site above the 4,500 MWt threshold based on the 
licensed thermal power rating equal to or less than 2,000 MWt. The 
factor is based on the difference between the maximum fee and the 
minimum fee, divided by the difference in the variable fee licensed 
thermal rating range (either 1,750 MWt for the 2,000 MWt for first 
bundled unit or 2,000 MWt for additional bundled units).
0
5. In Sec.  171.15, redesignate paragraph (e) as paragraph (f), and add 
new paragraph (e) to read as follows:


Sec.  171.15  Annual fees: Reactor licenses and independent spent fuel 
storage licenses.

* * * * *
    (e)(1) Each person holding an operating license for a small modular 
reactor issued under part 50 of this chapter or that holds a combined 
license issued under part 52 of this chapter after the Commission has 
made the finding under 10 CFR 52.103(g) shall pay the annual fee for 
each license held during the fiscal year in which the fee is due.
    (2) The annual fees for a small modular reactor(s) located on a 
single site to be collected by September 30 of each year, are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Bundled unit thermal power
           rating *             Minimum fee   Variable fee   Maximum fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
First Bundled Unit:
    0-250 MWt................  TBD..........  N/A.........  N/A.
    > 250 <= 2,000 MWt.......  TBD..........  TBD.........  N/A.
    > 2,000 <= 4,500 MWt.....  N/A..........  N/A.........  TBD.
Additional Bundled Units:
    > 4,500 <= 6,500 MWt.....  N/A..........  TBD.........  N/A.
    > 6,500 <= 9,000 MWt.....  N/A..........  N/A.........  TBD.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Note that the total annual fee paid is cumulative for the first
  bundled unit and each additional bundled unit.

    (3) The annual fee is assessed for the same activities listed for 
the power reactor base annual fee and spent fuel storage/reactor 
decommissioning reactor fee.
* * * * *

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of October 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Maureen E. Wylie,
Chief Financial Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-28110 Filed 11-3-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P



                                                 68268

                                                 Proposed Rules                                                                                                Federal Register
                                                                                                                                                               Vol. 80, No. 213

                                                                                                                                                               Wednesday, November 4, 2015



                                                 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER                       • Email comments to:                               relationship to the cost of providing
                                                 contains notices to the public of the proposed          Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov. If you                   regulatory services and may be based on
                                                 issuance of rules and regulations. The                  do not receive an automatic email reply               the allocation of the Commission’s
                                                 purpose of these notices is to give interested          confirming receipt, then contact us at                resources among licensees or classes of
                                                 persons an opportunity to participate in the            301–415–1677.                                         licensees.’’ Because of the significant
                                                 rule making prior to the adoption of the final
                                                                                                            • Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S.                 anticipated differences between SMRs
                                                 rules.
                                                                                                         Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 301–                 and the existing reactor fleet, applying
                                                                                                         415–1101.                                             the current fee structure to SMRs
                                                 NUCLEAR REGULATORY                                         • Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S.                appears to be contrary to OBRA–90’s
                                                 COMMISSION                                              Nuclear Regulatory Commission,                        requirement that the NRC’s fees be
                                                                                                         Washington, DC 20555–0001, ATTN:                      ‘‘fairly and equitably’’ allocated among
                                                 10 CFR Parts 170 and 171                                Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.                  its licensees. Therefore, the NRC
                                                                                                            • Hand deliver comments to: 11555                  proposes to implement a variable
                                                 [NRC–2008–0664]
                                                                                                         Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland                   annual fee structure for SMR licensees
                                                 RIN 3150–AI54                                           20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.                that would include a minimum fee, a
                                                                                                         (Eastern Time) Federal workdays;                      variable fee, and a maximum fee based
                                                 Variable Annual Fee Structure for                       telephone: 301–415–1677. For                          on an SMR site’s cumulative licensed
                                                 Small Modular Reactors                                  additional direction on obtaining                     thermal power rating.
                                                 AGENCY:  Nuclear Regulatory                             information and submitting comments,                     A draft regulatory analysis (Accession
                                                 Commission.                                             see ‘‘Obtaining Information and                       No. ML15226A588 in the NRC’s
                                                 ACTION: Proposed rule.
                                                                                                         Submitting Comments’’ in the                          Agencywide Documents Access and
                                                                                                         SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of                  Management System (ADAMS)) has
                                                 SUMMARY:   The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory                  this document.                                        been developed for this proposed
                                                 Commission (NRC) is proposing to                        FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:                      rulemaking and is available for public
                                                 amend its licensing, inspection, and                    Arlette Howard, Office of the Chief                   comment (see Section XIII, Availability
                                                 annual fee regulations to establish a                   Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear                       of Documents).
                                                 variable annual fee structure for light-                Regulatory Commission, Washington,
                                                 water small modular reactors (SMR).                                                                           Table of Contents
                                                                                                         DC 20555–0001, telephone: 301–415–
                                                 Under the proposed variable annual fee                  1481, email: Arlette.Howard@nrc.gov.                  I. Obtaining Information and Submitting
                                                 structure, an SMR’s annual fee would be                                                                             Comments
                                                                                                         SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                                                 calculated as a function of its licensed                                                                         A. Obtaining Information
                                                 thermal power rating. This proposed fee                 Executive Summary                                        B. Submitting Comments
                                                                                                                                                               II. Background
                                                 methodology complies with the                              The NRC anticipates that it will soon                 A. Operating Reactor Annual Fee Structure
                                                 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of                    receive license applications for light-                  B. Advance Notice of Proposed
                                                 1990, as amended (OBRA–90). The NRC                     water SMRs. In fiscal year (FY) 2008,                       Rulemaking Regarding an Annual Fee
                                                 will hold a public meeting to promote                   the NRC staff determined that the                           Structure for SMRs
                                                 full understanding of the proposed rule                 annual fee structure for part 171 of title               C. Evaluation of Four Alternative Annual
                                                 and to facilitate public comments.                      10 of the Code of Federal Regulations                       Fee Structures for SMRs
                                                 DATES: Submit comments by December
                                                                                                                                                                  D. Preferred Approach for an Annual Fee
                                                                                                         (10 CFR) fees, which was established in
                                                                                                                                                                     Structure for SMRs
                                                 4, 2015. Comments received after this                   1995, should be reevaluated to address                III. Discussion
                                                 date will be considered if it is                        potential inequities for future SMRs,                    A. What action is the NRC proposing to
                                                 practicable to do so, but the NRC is able               due to their anticipated design                             take?
                                                 to ensure consideration only for                        characteristics. These characteristics                   B. When would these actions become
                                                 comments received on or before this                     include modular design, factory                             effective?
                                                 date. For additional information about                  component fabrication, and thermal                       C. What should I consider as I prepare my
                                                 the public meeting, see Section XII,                    power capacities of 1,000 megawatts                         comments to the NRC?
                                                 ‘‘Public Meeting,’’ of this document.                   thermal (MWt) or less per module.                     IV. Discussion of Proposed Amendments by
                                                                                                                                                                     Section
                                                 ADDRESSES: You may submit comments                      These SMRs also may include safety
                                                                                                                                                               V. Draft Regulatory Analysis
                                                 by any of the following methods (unless                 and security design features that could               VI. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
                                                 this document describes a different                     ultimately result in a lower regulatory               VII. Backfitting and Issue Finality
                                                 method for submitting comments on a                     oversight burden for this type of reactor.            VIII. Plain Writing
                                                 specific subject):                                      Despite these significant differences,                IX. National Environmental Policy Act
                                                    • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to                 under the NRC’s current fee structure,                X. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
                                                 http://www.regulations.gov and search                   an SMR would be required to pay the                   XI. Voluntary Consensus Standards
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                                                 for Docket ID NRC–2008–0664. Address                    same annual fee as a current operating                XII. Public Meeting
                                                 questions about NRC dockets to Carol                    reactor. OBRA–90 instructs the NRC to                 XIII. Availability of Documents
                                                 Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463;                     ‘‘establish, by rule, a schedule of                   I. Obtaining Information and
                                                 email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For                     charges fairly and equitably allocating’’             Submitting Comments
                                                 technical questions contact the                         various generic agency regulatory costs
                                                 individual listed in the FOR FURTHER                    ‘‘among licensees’’ and, ‘‘[t]o the                   A. Obtaining Information
                                                 INFORMATION CONTACT section of this                     maximum extent practicable, the                         Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2008–
                                                 document.                                               charges shall have a reasonable                       0664 when contacting the NRC about


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                                                                    Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 213 / Wednesday, November 4, 2015 / Proposed Rules                                            68269

                                                 the availability of information for this                II. Background                                        single large operating reactor, even if
                                                 action. You may obtain publicly                                                                               that single reactor had higher thermal
                                                                                                         A. Operating Reactor Annual Fee
                                                 available information related to this                                                                         power rating than the combined power
                                                                                                         Structure
                                                 action by any of the following methods:                                                                       of the 12 SMR modules; this disparity
                                                    • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to                    Over the past 40 years the NRC has                 raises fairness and equity concerns
                                                 http://www.regulations.gov and search                   assessed, and continues to assess, fees to            under OBRA–90. The SMR licensees
                                                                                                         applicants and licensees to recover the               could apply for fee exemptions to lower
                                                 for Docket ID NRC–2008–0664.
                                                                                                         cost of its regulatory program. The                   their annual fees; however, fee
                                                    • NRC’s Agencywide Documents                         NRC’s fee regulations are governed by                 exceptions are appropriate only for
                                                 Access and Management System                            two laws: (1) The Independent Offices                 unanticipated or rare situations. OBRA–
                                                 (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly                        Appropriations Act of 1952 (IOAA) (31                 90 requires NRC to establish, by rule, a
                                                 available documents online in the                       U.S.C. 483 (a)); and (2) OBRA–90 (42                  schedule of charges fairly and equitably
                                                 ADAMS Public Documents collection at                    U.S.C. 2214). Under OBRA–90, the NRC                  allocating annual fees among its
                                                 http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/                          is required to recover approximately 90               licensees. If the NRC anticipates up-
                                                 adams.html. To begin the search, select                 percent of its annual budget authority                front that its annual fee schedule will
                                                 ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then                     through fees, not including amounts                   not be fair and equitable as applied to
                                                 select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS                          appropriated for Waste Incidental to                  a particular class of licensees, then
                                                 Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,                      Reprocessing, amounts appropriated for                amending the schedule, rather than
                                                 please contact the NRC’s Public                         generic homeland security activities                  planning to rely on the exemption
                                                 Document Room (PDR) reference staff at                  (non-fee items), amounts appropriated                 process, is the better course of action for
                                                 1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by                     from the Nuclear Waste Fund, and                      complying with OBRA–90.
                                                 email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The                      amounts appropriated for Inspector
                                                 ADAMS accession number for each                         General services for the Defense Nuclear              B. Advance Notice of Proposed
                                                 document referenced in this document                    Facilities Safety Board.                              Rulemaking Regarding an Annual Fee
                                                 (if that document is available in                          The NRC assesses two types of fees to              Structure for SMRs
                                                 ADAMS) is provided the first time that                  meet the requirements of OBRA–90.                        In order to address any potential
                                                 a document is referenced. For the                       First, licensing and inspection fees,                 inequities described above, the NRC
                                                 convenience of the reader, the ADAMS                    established in 10 CFR part 170 under                  began re-evaluating its annual fee
                                                 accession numbers are provided in a                     the authority of the IOAA, recover the                structure as it relates to SMRs. In March
                                                 table in the ‘‘Availability of Documents’’              NRC’s cost of providing specific benefits             2009, the NRC published an Advance
                                                 section of this document.                               to identifiable applicants and licensees.             Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR)
                                                    • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and                     Second, annual fees, established in 10                for a variable annual fee structure for
                                                 purchase copies of public documents at                  CFR part 171 under the authority of                   power reactors in the Federal Register
                                                 the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One                         OBRA–90, recover NRC’s generic and                    (74 FR 12735, March 25, 2009).
                                                 White Flint North, 11555 Rockville                      other regulatory costs that are not                   Although the ANPR nominally
                                                 Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.                        otherwise recovered through 10 CFR                    addressed the fee methodology used for
                                                                                                         part 170 fees during the fiscal year.                 all power reactors, its principal focus
                                                 B. Submitting Comments                                     Under the current annual fee                       was on how to best adapt the existing
                                                                                                         structure, SMRs would be required to                  fee methodology for future SMRs.
                                                   Please include Docket ID NRC–2008–
                                                                                                         pay the same annual fee as those paid                    The NRC received 16 public
                                                 0664 in the subject line of your
                                                                                                         by the operating reactor fee class. For               comments on the ANPR from licensees,
                                                 comment submission, in order to ensure
                                                                                                         the operating reactor fee class, the NRC              industry groups, and private
                                                 that the NRC is able to make your
                                                                                                         allocates 10 CFR part 171 annual fees                 individuals. These comments provided
                                                 comment submission available to the
                                                                                                         equally among the operating power                     a wide range of input for agency
                                                 public in this docket.
                                                                                                         reactor licensees to recover those                    consideration. Nine commenters
                                                   The NRC cautions you not to include                   budgetary resources expended for                      supported adjusting the current power
                                                 identifying or contact information that                 rulemaking and other generic activities               reactor annual fee methodology for
                                                 you do not want to be publicly                          which benefit the entire fee class. If 10             small and medium-sized power reactors
                                                 disclosed in your comment submission.                   CFR part 171, in its current form, is                 by some means. These commenters
                                                 The NRC will post all comment                           applied to SMRs, then each SMR reactor                suggested basing the annual fee on
                                                 submissions at http://                                  would be required to pay the same flat                either: (a) A risk matrix, (b) the thermal
                                                 www.regulations.gov as well as enter the                annual fees as the existing operating                 power ratings (in megawatts thermal,
                                                 comment submissions into ADAMS,                         reactor fleet, even though SMRs are                   MWt), (c) the cost of providing
                                                 and the NRC does not routinely edit                     expected to be considerably smaller in                regulatory service, or d) an amount
                                                 comment submissions to remove                           size and are expected to utilize designs              proportional to the size of the system
                                                 identifying or contact information.                     that may reduce the NRC’s regulatory                  based on megawatt (MW) ratings
                                                   If you are requesting or aggregating                  costs per reactor.                                    compared to a fixed baseline. Three
                                                 comments from other persons for                            Additionally, under the current                    commenters representing small reactor
                                                 submission to the NRC, then you should                  annual fee structure, multimodule                     design vendors supported a variable fee
                                                 inform those persons not to include                     nuclear plants would be assessed                      rate structure as a means to mitigate the
                                                 identifying or contact information that                 annual fees on a per-licensed-module                  impacts of the existing fee structure on
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                                                 they do not want to be publicly                         basis, as stated in the draft regulatory              potential customers of their small
                                                 disclosed in their comment submission.                  analysis, in the section titled                       reactor designs.
                                                 Your request should state that the NRC                  ‘‘Identification and Preliminary                         Other commenters not supporting the
                                                 does not routinely edit comment                         Analysis of Alternative Approaches.’’                 variable annual fee structure
                                                 submissions to remove such information                  For example, an SMR site with 12                      recommended the following changes to
                                                 before making the comment                               licensed SMR modules with low                         the fee methodology: (a) Reinstatement
                                                 submissions available to the public or                  thermal power ratings would have to                   of reactor size as a factor in evaluating
                                                 entering the comment into ADAMS.                        pay 12 times the annual fee paid by a                 fee exemption requests under 10 CFR


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                                                 68270              Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 213 / Wednesday, November 4, 2015 / Proposed Rules

                                                 171.11(c), (b) establishment of power                   calculated the annual fee for each SMR                working group recommended setting the
                                                 reactor subclasses, or (c) performance of               as a function of its potential risk to                single-fee threshold for a multi-module
                                                 additional analysis before making any                   public health and safety using a risk                 nuclear plant at 4,500 MWt on the SMR
                                                 changes to the current fee structure.                   matrix, did not warrant further                       variable annual fee structure scale so
                                                 Two commenters expressed an                             consideration and analysis because of                 that the maximum fee remains aligned
                                                 unwillingness to subsidize operating                    the technical complexities and potential              with the largest licensed power reactor.
                                                 SMRs at the expense of their own                        costs of developing the probalistic risk                 With this change, the staff submitted
                                                 businesses and believed that the flat-rate              assessments necessary to implement                    final recommendations to the
                                                 methodology provided regulatory                         this alternative.                                     Commission and requested approval to
                                                 certainty and assisted the ability to                   D. Preferred Approach for an Annual                   proceed with a proposed rulemaking for
                                                 make ongoing financial plans.                           Fee Structure for SMRs                                an SMR annual fee structure in a
                                                   In September 2009, the NRC staff                                                                            memorandum dated March 27, 2015,
                                                 submitted SECY–09–0137, ‘‘Next Steps                       The working group examined the                     ‘‘Proposed Variable Annual Fee
                                                 for Advance Notice of Proposed                          alternatives and informed the NRC’s                   Structure for Small Modular Reactors’’
                                                 Rulemaking on Variable Annual Fee                       Chief Financial Officer (CFO) that                    (ADAMS Accession No. ML15051A092).
                                                 Structure for Power Reactors,’’ to the                  Alternative 4 was the working group’s                 The Commission approved the staff’s
                                                 Commission for a notation vote                          preferred recommendation because it                   request to proceed with a proposed
                                                 (ADAMS Accession No. ML092660166).                      allows SMRs to be assessed specific fee               rulemaking on May 18, 2015, in SRM–
                                                 The paper summarized the comments                       amounts based on their licensed thermal               SECY–15–0044 (ADAMS Accession No.
                                                 received in response to the ANPR and                    power ratings (measured in MWt) on a                  ML15135A427).
                                                 requested Commission approval to form                   variable scale with a minimum fee and
                                                 a working group to analyze the                          a maximum fee. Additionally, the                      III. Discussion
                                                 commenters’ suggested methodologies.                    variable portion of the fee allows for                A. What action is the NRC proposing to
                                                 The Commission approved the staff’s                     multiple licensed SMR reactors on a                   take?
                                                 recommendation in the October 13,                       single site to be treated as a single
                                                                                                         reactor for fee purposes up to 4,000                     Based on the Commission’s approval
                                                 2009, Staff Requirements Memorandum
                                                                                                         MWt. The working group determined                     in SRM–SECY–15–0044, May 18, 2015
                                                 (SRM) for SECY–09–0137 (ADAMS
                                                                                                         that these attributes best align with NRC             (ADAMS Accession No. ML15135A427),
                                                 Accession No. ML092861070).
                                                                                                         requirements under OBRA–90.                           the NRC staff is proposing to implement
                                                 C. Evaluation of Four Alternative                          The CFO submitted the final                        a variable annual fee structure for SMRs.
                                                 Annual Fee Structures for SMRs                          recommendations to the Commission in                  As detailed in the draft regulatory
                                                    The NRC subsequently formed a                        an informational memorandum dated                     analysis, the NRC determined the
                                                 working group to analyze the ANPR                       February 7, 2011, ‘‘Resolution of Issue               current annual fee structure may not be
                                                 comments, as well as position papers                    Regarding Variable Annual Fee                         fair and equitable for assessing fees to
                                                 submitted to the NRC from the Nuclear                   Structure for Small and Medium-Sized                  SMRs based on the unique size and
                                                 Energy Institute (NEI), ‘‘NRC Annual                    Nuclear Power Reactors’’ (ADAMS                       characteristics of SMRs.
                                                 Fee Assessment for Small Reactors,’’                    Accession No. ML110380251). The                          As explained in the Background
                                                 dated October 2010 (ADAMS Accession                     memorandum described the results of                   section of this proposed rule, the NRC
                                                 No. ML103070148); and from the                          the working group’s efforts and its                   staff previously solicited public input
                                                 American Nuclear Society (ANS),                         recommendation that the annual fee                    regarding an annual fee structure for
                                                 ‘‘Interim Report of the American                        structure for SMRs be calculated for                  SMRs via an ANPR, and the NRC staff
                                                 Nuclear Society President’s Special                     each newly licensed power reactor as a                submitted two papers to the
                                                 Committee on Small and Medium Sized                     function of its licensed thermal power                Commission discussing alternative
                                                 Reactor (SMR) Generic Licensing                         rating. The memorandum indicated that                 annual fee structures which resulted in
                                                 Issues,’’ dated July 2010 (ADAMS                        the staff intended to obtain Commission               the recommendation of the variable
                                                 Accession No. ML110040946).                             approval for the planned approach                     annual fee structure as the preferred
                                                    Four possible alternatives emerged                   during the process for developing the                 approach. In FY 2015, for this proposed
                                                 from the working group’s analysis of the                proposed rule.                                        rule and draft regulatory analysis, the
                                                 public comments and the NEI and ANS                        In FY 2014, the staff reviewed the                 NRC staff further refined the original
                                                 position papers:                                        analysis and recommendations in the                   alternatives and concluded that a ‘‘no
                                                    1. Continue the existing annual fee                  2011 memorandum and determined that                   action alternative’’ should be added to
                                                 structure, but define a modular site of                 they remained sound. However, the                     serve as the baseline to compare against
                                                 up to 12 reactors or 4,000 MWt licensed                 working group identified one additional               all other alternatives for this proposed
                                                 power rating as a single unit for annual                area for consideration related to the                 rulemaking.
                                                 fee purposes.                                           maximum thermal power rating eligible                    Therefore, the four alternatives
                                                    2. Create fee classes for groups of                  for a single annual fee.                              analyzed for this rulemaking are as
                                                 reactor licensees and distribute the                       In the FY 2011 memorandum, the                     follows:
                                                 annual fee costs attributed to each fee                 CFO proposed an upper threshold of                       1. No action.
                                                 class equally among the licensees in that               4,000 MWt for multi-module power                         2. Continue the existing annual fee
                                                 class.                                                  plants to be allocated a single annual                structure for all reactors but allow for
                                                    3. Calculate the annual fee for each                 fee. This value was comparable to the                 ‘‘bundling’’ of SMR reactor modules up
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                                                 licensed power reactor as a function of                 largest operating reactor units at the                to a total of 4,500 MWt as a single SMR
                                                 potential risk to public health and safety              time (Palo Verde Nuclear Generating                   ‘‘bundled unit.’’
                                                 using a risk matrix.                                    Station Units 1, 2, and 3 at 3,990 MWt                   3. Continue the existing annual fee
                                                    4. Calculate the annual fee for each                 each). Subsequently, a power uprate                   structure for the current fleet of
                                                 licensed power reactor as a function of                 was approved for Grand Gulf Nuclear                   operating power reactors but establish a
                                                 its licensed thermal power rating.                      Station, Unit 1, which raised the                     third fee class for SMRs with fees
                                                    The NRC staff further concluded that                 maximum licensed thermal power                        commensurate with the budgetary
                                                 the original Alternative 3, which                       rating to 4,408 MWt. Therefore, the                   resources allocated to SMRs.


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                                                                    Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 213 / Wednesday, November 4, 2015 / Proposed Rules                                            68271

                                                    4. Continue the existing annual fee                  for the bundling of the thermal ratings               SMR). Additionally, Alternative 3 is
                                                 structure for the current fleet of                      of SMRs on a single site up to total                  similar to the ‘‘no action’’ alternative in
                                                 operating power reactors but calculate                  licensed thermal power rating of up to                the sense that fees are based per
                                                 the annual fee for each SMR site as a                   4,500 MWt, which is roughly equivalent                licensed reactor or module rather than
                                                 multi-part fee which includes minimum                   to the licensed thermal power rating of               on the cumulative licensed thermal
                                                 fee, variable fee and maximum fee.                      the largest reactor in the current fleet.             power rating. This alternative, therefore,
                                                    As explained in the draft regulatory                 Alternative 2 provides more fairness to               fails to address the fee disparity created
                                                 analysis for this proposed rule, the NRC                SMRs than Alternative 1 because it                    for SMRs using multiple small modules
                                                 staff analyzed Alternative 1 (the no                    allows SMR licensees to bundle their                  rather than fewer, larger reactors with a
                                                 action alternative) and has concluded                   SMRs on a single site. For smaller SMR                similar cumulative thermal power
                                                 that this alternative continues to be a                 facilities, however, Alternative 2 would              rating. It is the NRC’s intent to select an
                                                 fair, equitable and stable approach for                 still create great disparities among                  SMR fee alternative that is fair and
                                                 the existing fleet of reactors. This is                 facilities in terms of the annual fees they           equitable for the broadest possible range
                                                 because previous agency efforts to                      pay relative to the economic benefits                 of SMR designs. Flat-rate alternatives
                                                 manage cost and fee allocations at a                    they stand to gain from their NRC                     such as this one are inconsistent with
                                                 more granular level proved to be labor                  licenses. Consider, for illustrative                  the ‘‘fair and equitable’’ requirements of
                                                 intensive and resulted in minimal                       purposes, an SMR site with only one                   OBRA–90 when applied to a fee class
                                                 additional benefits to licensees when                   NuScale reactor module. This licensee                 with the wide range of SMR thermal
                                                 compared to the flat-fee approach (60                   for this site would still be required to              power capacities as described by reactor
                                                 FR 32230; June 20, 1995). But for SMRs,                 pay the full annual fee but could only                designers to date. As with the previous
                                                 the current fee structure could produce                 spread the fee over 160 MWt-about                     alternatives, SMR licensees could apply
                                                 such a large disparity between the                      $31,123 per MWt as explained in the                   for annual fee exemptions under 10 CFR
                                                 annual fees paid by a licensee and the                  draft regulatory analysis. In contrast, the           171.11(c). But again there are no
                                                 economic benefits that the licensee                     licensee for an SMR site featuring 12                 guarantees that an exemption would be
                                                 gained from using the license that it                   NuScale reactor modules would pay                     approved, decreasing regulatory
                                                 would be contrary to OBRA–90. For                       only $2,594 per MWt in annual fees as                 certainty. For these reasons, and as
                                                 example, a hypothetical SMR site with                   explained in the draft regulatory                     further explained in the draft regulatory
                                                 twelve SMR reactor modules would                        analysis. Alternative 2, therefore, goes              analysis, Alternative 3 is an
                                                 have to pay twelve times the annual fee                 only part of the way towards addressing               unacceptable approach.
                                                 paid by a single current operating                      the fairness and equity concerns that                    Ultimately, the NRC staff analyzed the
                                                 reactor—almost $54 million per year                     prompted this rulemaking, while                       mechanics of the variable annual fee
                                                 based on FY 2015 fee rule data. By                      leaving significant potential for                     structure under Alternative 4 and
                                                 comparison, Fort Calhoun, the smallest                  disparities from one SMR licensee to                  determined that it is the best approach
                                                 reactor in the current operating fleet,                 another, in terms of the economic                     for assessing fees to SMRs in a fair and
                                                 would pay approximately $4.5 million                    benefits the licensee would be able to                equitable manner under OBRA–90.
                                                 in annual fees. Such a result would be                  receive from its NRC license relative to              Unlike the current fee structure, this
                                                 contrary to OBRA–90’s requirement to                    the annual fees assessed. As with                     approach recognizes the anticipated
                                                 establish a fair fee schedule, and                      Alternative 1, SMR licensees could                    unique characteristics of SMRs in
                                                 therefore the no action alternative is                  apply for annual fee exemptions under                 relation to the existing fleet. In
                                                 unacceptable.
                                                                                                         10 CFR 171.11(c). But again there are no              comparison to Alternative 2, this
                                                    Small modular reactor licensees could
                                                                                                         guarantees that an exemption would be                 approach ensures that all SMRs are
                                                 apply for annual fee exemptions under
                                                 10 CFR 171.11(c). The fee exemption                     approved, decreasing regulatory                       treated fairly, rather than just those
                                                 criteria considers the age of the reactor,              certainty. For these reasons, and as                  whose licensed thermal power rating
                                                 number of customers in the licensee’s                   further explained in the draft regulatory             ranges between 2,000–4,500 MWt.
                                                 rate base, how much the annual fee                      analysis, the NRC staff finds Alternative             Unlike Alternative 3, the variable
                                                 would add to the per kilowatt-hour                      2 to be an unacceptable approach.                     annual fee structure assesses a range of
                                                 (kWh) cost of electricity, and other                       Alternative 3, as explained in the                 annual fees to SMRs based on licensed
                                                 relevant issues. But as described in                    draft regulatory analysis for this                    thermal power rating, rather than
                                                 SECY–15–0044, there are no guarantees                   proposed rule, would entail creating a                assessing a single flat fee that could
                                                 that an application for an exemption                    separate fee class for SMRs with fees                 apply to potentially a very wide range
                                                 would be approved, decreasing                           commensurate with the budgetary                       of SMRs.
                                                 regulatory certainty. And, OBRA–90                      resources allocated to SMRs, similar to                  The variable annual fee structure
                                                 requires the NRC to establish, by rule,                 the operating reactor and research and                computes SMR annual fees on a site
                                                 a schedule of charges fairly and                        test reactors fee classes. This alternative           basis, considering all SMRs on the site
                                                 equitably allocating annual fees among                  would establish a flat annual fee that is             up to a total licensed thermal power
                                                 its licensees. Therefore, if the NRC                    assessed equally among the licensees in               rating of up to 4,500 MWt to be a single
                                                 anticipates up-front that its annual fee                the SMR class. Although this approach                 bundled unit that would pay the same
                                                 schedule will not be fair and equitable                 has proven to be fair and equitable for               fee as the current operating fleet. The
                                                 as applied to a particular class of                     the current fee classes, this approach                variable annual fee structure has three
                                                 licensees, then amending the schedule,                  applied to SMRs would be unfair due to                parts; a minimum annual fee (the
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                                                 rather than planning to rely on the                     the potential various sizes and types of              average of the research and test reactor
                                                 exemption process, is the far better                    SMR designs. In particular, a single per-             fee class and the spent fuel storage/
                                                 course for complying with OBRA–90.                      reactor fee could prove unduly                        reactor decommissioning fee class), a
                                                    Also, as explained in the draft                      burdensome to SMRs with low thermal                   variable fee charged on a per-MWt basis
                                                 regulatory analysis for this proposed                   power ratings (such as 160 MWt for a                  for bundled units in a particular size
                                                 rule, the NRC staff evaluated Alternative               single NuScale SMR) when compared to                  range below the typical current
                                                 2, which continues the existing annual                  SMRs with higher rated capacities (such               operating fleet reactor size, and a
                                                 fee structure for all reactors and allows               as 800 MWt for a single Westinghouse                  maximum annual fee equivalent to the


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                                                 68272              Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 213 / Wednesday, November 4, 2015 / Proposed Rules

                                                 annual fee charged to current operating                 licensed thermal power rating. Similar                reactor (SMR),’’ and ‘‘small modular
                                                 fleet reactors.                                         to the other three alternative fee                    reactor site (SMR site).’’
                                                    Bundled units with a total licensed                  structures, this method would have
                                                 thermal power rating at or below 250                                                                          Section 171.5     Definitions
                                                                                                         failed to address the inequity of the size
                                                 MWt would pay a flat minimum fee; for                   of the bundled unit versus the size of                   The NRC proposes to add definitions
                                                 example, based on FY 2015 fee rule                      the fee the licensee would have to pay.               for ‘‘bundled unit,’’ ‘‘maximum fee,’’
                                                 data, the fee would be $154K as                            Therefore, as demonstrated in the                  ‘‘minimum fee,’’ ‘‘small modular reactor
                                                 explained in the draft regulatory                       draft regulatory analysis, the NRC staff              (SMR),’’ ‘‘small modular reactor site
                                                 analysis. This minimum fee is                           concludes the variable annual fee                     (SMR site),’’ ‘‘variable fee,’’ and
                                                 consistent with the principle that                      structure allows SMRs to pay an annual                ‘‘variable rate.’’
                                                 reactor-related licensees in existing low-              fee that is commensurate with the
                                                 fee classes may not generate substantial                economic benefit received from its                    Section 171.15 Annual Fees: Reactor
                                                 revenue, yet still derive benefits from                 license and that appropriately accounts               Licenses and Independent Spent Fuel
                                                 NRC activities performed on generic                     for the design characteristics and                    Storage Licenses
                                                 work. Therefore, they must pay more                     current expectations regarding
                                                 than a de minimis part of the NRC’s                                                                              The NRC proposes to redesignate
                                                                                                         regulatory costs. This complies with
                                                 generic costs. By calculating the                                                                             current paragraph (e) as new paragraph
                                                                                                         OBRA–90’s requirement to establish a
                                                 minimum fee for SMRs within the range                                                                         (f) and add new paragraphs (e)(1), (e)(2)
                                                                                                         fee schedule that fairly and equitably
                                                 of annual fees paid by other low-fee                                                                          and (e)(3) to define activities that
                                                                                                         allocates NRC’s fees.
                                                 reactor classes, this methodology                                                                             comprise SMR annual fees and the time
                                                 satisfies OBRA–90’s fairness and equity                 B. When would these actions become                    period the NRC must collect annual fees
                                                 requirements because it ensures                         effective?                                            from SMR licensees.
                                                 consistent NRC treatment for low-power                     Generally, the NRC allows an                       V. Draft Regulatory Analysis
                                                 and low-revenue reactors.                               adequate time (30 to 180 days) for a
                                                    Fees for bundled units with a total                  final rule to become effective. The time                 The NRC has prepared a draft
                                                 licensed thermal power rating greater                   for the final rule to become effective                regulatory analysis on this proposed
                                                 than 250 MWt and less than or equal to                  depends on the scope of the rulemaking,               regulation. The analysis examines the
                                                 2,000 MWt would be computed as the                      the availability of associated guidance,              costs and benefits of the alternatives
                                                 minimum fee plus a variable fee based                   and the complexity of the final rule.                 considered by the NRC. The NRC
                                                 on the bundled unit’s cumulative                        With regard to this proposed rule, the                requests public comment on the draft
                                                 licensed thermal power rating. The                      NRC proposes that the final rule become               regulatory analysis. The draft regulatory
                                                 variable fee should generally correlate                 effective 30 days from its publication in             analysis is available as indicated in the
                                                 with the economic benefits the licensee                 the Federal Register.                                 ‘‘Availability of Documents’’ section of
                                                 is able to derive from its NRC license                                                                        this document. Comments on the draft
                                                 and will ensure that similarly rated                    C. What should I consider as I prepare                analysis may be submitted to the NRC
                                                 SMRs pay comparable fees.                               my comments to the NRC?                               as indicated under the ADDRESSES
                                                    For a bundled unit with a licensed                      When submitting your comments,                     section of this document.
                                                 thermal power rating comparable to a                    remember to:
                                                 typical large light-water reactor that is                  1. Identify the rulemaking (RIN 3150–              VI. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
                                                 greater than 2,000 MWt and less than or                 AI54) and Docket ID NRC–2008–0664)
                                                 equal to 4,500 MWt, the maximum                                                                                  As required by the Regulatory
                                                                                                            2. Explain why you agree or disagree               Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C. 605(b),
                                                 annual fee assessed to the licensee                     with the proposed rule; suggest
                                                 would be the same fee that would be                                                                           the Commission certifies that this rule,
                                                                                                         alternatives and substitute language for              if adopted, will not have a significant
                                                 paid by a reactor licensee in the current               your requested changes.
                                                 operating fleet. This approach ensures                                                                        economic impact on a substantial
                                                                                                            3. Describe any assumptions and                    number of small entities. This proposed
                                                 comparable fee treatment of facilities                  provide any technical information and/
                                                 that stand to derive comparable                                                                               rule affects only the licensing and
                                                                                                         or data that you used.                                operation of nuclear power plants. The
                                                 economic benefits from their NRC-                          4. If you estimate potential costs or
                                                 licensed activities.                                                                                          companies that own these plants do not
                                                                                                         burdens, explain how you arrived at                   fall within the scope of the definition of
                                                    For SMR sites with a licensed thermal                your estimate in sufficient detail to
                                                 power rating that exceeds 4,500 MWt,                                                                          ‘‘small entities’’ set forth in the
                                                                                                         allow for it to be reproduced.                        Regulatory Flexibility Act or the size
                                                 the licensee would be assessed the                         5. Provide specific examples to
                                                 maximum fee for the first bundled unit,                                                                       standards established by the NRC (10
                                                                                                         illustrate your concerns, and suggest                 CFR 2.810).
                                                 plus a variable annual fee for the                      alternatives.
                                                 portion of the thermal rating above the                    6. Explain your views as clearly as                VII. Backfitting and Issue Finality
                                                 4,500 MWt and less than or equal to                     possible.
                                                 6,500 MWt for a second bundled unit                        7. Submit your comments by the                        The NRC has determined that the
                                                 (the licensee would not incur a second                  comment period deadline as stated in                  backfit rule, 10 CFR 50.109, does not
                                                 minimum fee for the same SMR site). If                  the DATES section of this proposed rule.              apply to this proposed rule and that a
                                                 a site rating exceeds the 6,500 MWt                                                                           backfit analysis is not required. A
                                                 level and it less than or equal to 9,000                IV. Discussion of Proposed                            backfit analysis is not required because
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                                                 MWt, the maximum fee would be                           Amendments by Section                                 these amendments do not require the
                                                 assessed for each bundled unit. The                       The following paragraphs describe the               modification of, or addition to, systems,
                                                 NRC considered avoiding the second                      specific changes proposed by this                     structures, components, or the design of
                                                 variable portion of the fee structure and               rulemaking.                                           a facility, or the design approval or
                                                 simply doubling the annual maximum                                                                            manufacturing license for a facility, or
                                                 fee for the second bundled unit;                        Section 170.3       Definitions                       the procedures or organization required
                                                 however, this would be unfair if the                      The NRC proposes to add definitions                 to design, construct, or operate a
                                                 site’s second bundled unit had a small                  for ‘‘bundled unit,’’ ‘‘small modular                 facility.


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                                                                         Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 213 / Wednesday, November 4, 2015 / Proposed Rules                                                                                68273

                                                 VIII. Plain Writing                                                  X. Paperwork Reduction Act                                           standard that contains generally
                                                                                                                                                                                           applicable requirements.
                                                   The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (Pub.                                   This proposed rule does not contain
                                                 L. 111–274) requires Federal agencies to                             a collection of information as defined in                            XII. Public Meeting
                                                 write documents in a clear, concise, and                             the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995                                    The NRC will hold a public meeting
                                                 well-organized manner. The NRC has                                   (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and, therefore,                             to describe and explain the rationale for
                                                 written this document to be consistent                               is not subject to the requirements of the                            the variable annual fee structure and to
                                                 with the Plain Writing Act as well as the                            Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.                                     accept questions from the public on this
                                                 Presidential Memorandum, ‘‘Plain                                                                                                          proposed rule.
                                                                                                                      XI. Voluntary Consensus Standards                                      The NRC will publish a notice of the
                                                 Language in Government Writing,’’
                                                 published June 10, 1998 (63 FR 31883).                                  The National Technology Transfer                                  location, time, and agenda of the
                                                 The NRC requests comment on the                                      and Advancement Act of 1995, Public                                  meeting in the Federal Register, on
                                                 proposed rule with respect to the clarity                            Law 104–113, requires that Federal                                   Regulations.gov, and on the NRC’s
                                                 and effectiveness of the language used.                              agencies use technical standards that are                            public meeting Web site at least 10
                                                                                                                                                                                           calendar days before the meeting.
                                                 IX. National Environmental Policy Act                                developed or adopted by voluntary
                                                                                                                                                                                           Stakeholders should monitor the NRC’s
                                                                                                                      consensus standards bodies unless the
                                                                                                                                                                                           public meeting Web site for information
                                                   The NRC has determined that this                                   use of such a standard is inconsistent                               about the public meeting at: http://
                                                 proposed rule is the type of action                                  with applicable law or otherwise                                     www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-
                                                 described in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(1).                                     impractical. In this proposed rule, the                              meetings/index.cfm.
                                                 Therefore, neither an environmental                                  NRC is proposing amend its licensing,
                                                 impact statement nor environmental                                   inspection, and annual fee regulations                               XIII. Availability of Documents
                                                 assessment has been prepared for this                                to establish a variable annual fee                                     The documents identified in the
                                                 proposed rule.                                                       structure for SMRs. This action does not                             following table are available to
                                                                                                                      constitute the establishment of a                                    interested persons as indicated.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       ADAMS
                                                                                                                                 Document                                                                                           Accession No.

                                                 Summary of ANPR Comments ......................................................................................................................................................   ML14307A812.
                                                 ANS Position Paper, ‘‘NRC Annual Fees for Licensees’’ .............................................................................................................               ML110040946.
                                                 NEI Position Paper, ‘‘NRC Annual Fee Assessment for Small Reactors’’ ....................................................................................                         ML103070148.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   ML110380260.
                                                 Memorandum to the Commission, ‘‘Resolution of Issue Regarding Variable Annual Fee Structure for Small and Medium-                                                                 ML110380251.
                                                   Sized Nuclear Power Reactors,’’ February 7, 2011.
                                                 SECY–15–0044, ‘‘Proposed Variable Annual Fee Structure for Small Modular Reactors’’, March 27, 2015 ..............................                                                ML15051A092.
                                                 Staff Requirements Memorandum—SECY–15–0044, ‘‘Proposed Variable Annual Fee Structure for Small Modular Reactors’’,                                                                ML15135A427.
                                                   May 15, 2015.
                                                 Draft Regulatory Analysis for Proposed Changes to 10 CFR Part 171 ‘‘Annual Fees for Reactor Licenses and Fuel Cycle Li-                                                           ML15226A588.
                                                   censes and Materials Licenses, Including Holders of Certificates of Compliance, Registrations, and Quality Assurance
                                                   Program Approvals and Government Agencies Licensed by the NRC’’.



                                                    Throughout the development of this                                10 CFR Part 171                                                        Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954,
                                                 rule, the NRC may post documents                                                                                                          secs. 11, 161(w) (42 U.S.C. 2014, 2201(w));
                                                 related to this rule, including public                                 Annual charges, Byproduct material,                                Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, sec. 201
                                                                                                                      Holders of certificates, registrations,                              (42 U.S.C. 5841); 42 U.S.C. 2214; 31 U.S.C.
                                                 comments, on the Federal rulemaking                                                                                                       901, 902, 9701; 44 U.S.C. 3504 note.
                                                 Web site at http://www.regulations.gov                               approvals, Intergovernmental relations,
                                                                                                                      Nonpayment penalties, Nuclear                                        ■ 2. In § 170.3, add, in alphabetical
                                                 under Docket ID NRC–2008–0664. The
                                                                                                                      materials, Nuclear power plants and                                  order, the definitions for bundled unit,
                                                 Federal rulemaking Web site allows you
                                                                                                                      reactors, Source material, Special                                   small modular reactor (SMR), and small
                                                 to receive alerts when changes or                                                                                                         modular reactor site (SMR site) to read
                                                 additions occur in a docket folder. To                               nuclear material.
                                                                                                                                                                                           as follows:
                                                 subscribe: (1) Navigate to the docket                                  For the reasons set out in the
                                                 folder NRC–2008–0664; (2) click the                                  preamble and under the authority of the                              § 170.3      Definitions.
                                                 ‘‘Sign up for Email Alerts’’ link; and (3)                           Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended;                               *     *     *     *    *
                                                 enter your email address and select how                              the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974,                                  Bundled unit is a measure of the
                                                 frequently you would like to receive                                 as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553,                                cumulative licensed thermal power
                                                 emails (daily, weekly, or monthly).                                  the NRC is proposing to adopt the                                    rating for one or more SMRs located on
                                                                                                                      following amendments to 10 CFR parts                                 a single SMR site. One bundled unit is
                                                 List of Subjects                                                                                                                          less than or equal to 4,500 MWt.
                                                                                                                      170 and 171:
                                                 10 CFR Part 170                                                                                                                           *     *     *     *    *
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                                                                                                                      PART 170—FEES FOR FACILITIES,                                           Small modular reactor (SMR) for the
                                                   Byproduct material, Import and                                     MATERIALS IMPORT AND EXPORT                                          purposes of calculating fees, means the
                                                 export licenses, Intergovernmental                                   LICENSES AND OTHER REGULATORY                                        class of light-water power reactors
                                                 relations, Non-payment penalties,                                    SERVICES UNDER THE ATOMIC                                            having a licensed thermal power rating
                                                 Nuclear energy, Nuclear materials,                                   ENERGY ACT OF 1954, AS AMENDED                                       less than or equal to 1,000 MWt per
                                                 Nuclear power plants and reactors,                                                                                                        module. This rating is based on the
                                                 Source material, Special nuclear                                     ■ 1. The authority citation for part 170                             thermal power equivalent of a light-
                                                 material.                                                            continues to read as follows:                                        water SMR with an electrical power


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                                                 68274                     Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 213 / Wednesday, November 4, 2015 / Proposed Rules

                                                 generating capacity of 300 MWe or less                                      Maximum fee is defined as the highest                                  licensed thermal power rating equal to
                                                 per module.                                                              fee paid by a single bundled unit. It is                                  or less 2,000 MWt.
                                                    Small modular reactor site (SMR site)                                 applied to all bundled units on an SMR                                       Variable rate means a per-MWt fee
                                                 is the geographically bounded location                                   site with a licensed thermal power                                        factor applied to the first bundled unit
                                                 of one or more SMRs and a basis on                                       rating greater than 2,000 and less than                                   on a site with a licensed thermal power
                                                 which SMR fees are calculated.                                           or equal to 4,500 MWt and is equal to                                     rating greater than 250 and or less than
                                                 *     *     *    *     *                                                 the annual fee paid by existing fleet                                     or equal to 2,000 MWt, or to additional
                                                                                                                          power reactors.                                                           bundled units on a site above the 4,500
                                                 PART 171—ANNUAL FEES FOR                                                    Minimum fee means one annual fee                                       MWt threshold based on the licensed
                                                 REACTOR LICENSES AND FUEL                                                component paid by the first bundled                                       thermal power rating equal to or less
                                                 CYCLE LICENSES AND MATERIALS                                             unit on a site with a cumulative                                          than 2,000 MWt. The factor is based on
                                                 LICENSES, INCLUDING HOLDERS OF                                           licensed thermal power rating of 2,000                                    the difference between the maximum
                                                 CERTIFICATES OF COMPLIANCE,                                              MWt or less. For the first bundled unit                                   fee and the minimum fee, divided by
                                                 REGISTRATIONS, AND QUALITY                                               on a site with a licensed thermal power                                   the difference in the variable fee
                                                 ASSURANCE PROGRAM APPROVALS                                              rating of 250 MWt or less, it is the only                                 licensed thermal rating range (either
                                                 AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES                                                  annual fee that a licensee pays.                                          1,750 MWt for the 2,000 MWt for first
                                                 LICENSED BY THE NRC                                                      *     *     *     *     *                                                 bundled unit or 2,000 MWt for
                                                 ■ 3. The authority citation for part 171                                    Small modular reactor (SMR) for the                                    additional bundled units).
                                                 continues to read as follows:                                            purposes of calculating fees, means the                                   ■ 5. In § 171.15, redesignate paragraph
                                                                                                                          class of light-water power reactors                                       (e) as paragraph (f), and add new
                                                   Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954,
                                                 secs. 11, 161(w), 223, 234 (42 U.S.C. 2014,                              having a licensed thermal power rating                                    paragraph (e) to read as follows:
                                                 2201(w), 2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization                              less than or equal to 1,000 MWt per
                                                 Act of 1974, sec. 201 (42 U.S.C. 5841); 42                               module. This rating is based on the                                       § 171.15 Annual fees: Reactor licenses
                                                 U.S.C. 2214; 44 U.S.C. 3504 note.                                        thermal power equivalent of a light-                                      and independent spent fuel storage
                                                                                                                          water SMR with an electrical power                                        licenses.
                                                 ■ 4. In § 171.5, add, in alphabetical
                                                                                                                          generating capacity of 300 MWe or less                                    *      *     *    *     *
                                                 order, the definitions for bundled unit,
                                                 maximum fee, minimum fee, small                                          per module.                                                                  (e)(1) Each person holding an
                                                 modular reactor (SMR), small modular                                        Small modular reactor site (SMR site)                                  operating license for a small modular
                                                 reactor site (SMR site), variable fee and                                means the geographical bounded                                            reactor issued under part 50 of this
                                                 variable rate to read as follows:                                        location of one or more SMRs and a                                        chapter or that holds a combined license
                                                                                                                          basis on which SMR fees are calculated.                                   issued under part 52 of this chapter after
                                                 § 171.5       Definitions.                                               *     *     *     *     *                                                 the Commission has made the finding
                                                 *     *     *     *    *                                                    Variable fee means the annual fee                                      under 10 CFR 52.103(g) shall pay the
                                                    Bundled unit means a measure of the                                   component paid by the first bundled                                       annual fee for each license held during
                                                 cumulative licensed thermal power                                        unit on a site with a licensed thermal                                    the fiscal year in which the fee is due.
                                                 rating for one or more SMRs located on                                   power rating greater than 250 and less                                       (2) The annual fees for a small
                                                 a single SMR site. One bundled unit is                                   than or equal to 2,000 MWt. For                                           modular reactor(s) located on a single
                                                 less than or equal to 4,500 MWt.                                         additional bundled units on a site, the                                   site to be collected by September 30 of
                                                 *     *     *     *    *                                                 variable fee is calculated based on the                                   each year, are as follows:

                                                                                                                     Bundled unit                                                                                     Minimum          Variable       Maximum
                                                                                                                 thermal power rating *                                                                                 fee              fee            fee

                                                 First Bundled Unit:
                                                      0–250 MWt ...................................................................................................................................................   TBD ........    N/A .........   N/A.
                                                      > 250 ≤ 2,000 MWt ......................................................................................................................................        TBD ........    TBD ........    N/A.
                                                      > 2,000 ≤ 4,500 MWt ...................................................................................................................................         N/A .........   N/A .........   TBD.
                                                 Additional Bundled Units:
                                                      > 4,500 ≤ 6,500 MWt ...................................................................................................................................         N/A .........   TBD ........    N/A.
                                                      > 6,500 ≤ 9,000 MWt ...................................................................................................................................         N/A .........   N/A .........   TBD.
                                                     * Note that the total annual fee paid is cumulative for the first bundled unit and each additional bundled unit.


                                                   (3) The annual fee is assessed for the                                 DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY                                                      SUMMARY:   The U.S. Department of
                                                 same activities listed for the power                                                                                                               Energy (DOE) proposes to clarify its test
                                                 reactor base annual fee and spent fuel                                   10 CFR Parts 429 and 430                                                  procedures for fluorescent lamp ballasts
                                                 storage/reactor decommissioning reactor                                                                                                            established under the Energy Policy and
                                                 fee.                                                                     [Docket No. EERE–2009–BT–TP–0016]                                         Conservation Act. DOE is proposing to
                                                 *     *    *      *     *                                                                                                                          replace all instances of ballast efficacy
                                                                                                                          RIN 1904–AD58
                                                                                                                                                                                                    factor (BEF) with ballast luminous
                                                   Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day
                                                                                                                                                                                                    efficiency (BLE) in our regulations and
rmajette on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS




                                                 of October 2015.                                                         Energy Conservation Program:
                                                                                                                          Clarification of Test Procedures for                                      to add rounding instructions to the same
                                                   For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.                                                                                                           section for BLE and power factor. DOE
                                                                                                                          Fluorescent Lamp Ballasts
                                                 Maureen E. Wylie,                                                                                                                                  also proposes to clarify the represented
                                                 Chief Financial Officer.                                                 AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and                                   value instructions for power factor.
                                                 [FR Doc. 2015–28110 Filed 11–3–15; 8:45 am]                              Renewable Energy, Department of                                           Finally, DOE is proposing to revise
                                                                                                                          Energy.                                                                   Appendix Q to clarify the lamp-ballast
                                                 BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
                                                                                                                          ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.                                    pairings for testing.


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Document Created: 2018-03-01 11:28:05
Document Modified: 2018-03-01 11:28:05
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionProposed Rules
ActionProposed rule.
DatesSubmit comments by December 4, 2015. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practicable to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date. For additional information about the public meeting, see Section XII, ``Public Meeting,'' of this document.
ContactArlette Howard, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-1481, email: [email protected]
FR Citation80 FR 68268 
RIN Number3150-AI54
CFR Citation10 CFR 170
10 CFR 171
CFR AssociatedByproduct Material; Import and Export Licenses; Intergovernmental Relations; Non-Payment Penalties; Nuclear Energy; Nuclear Materials; Nuclear Power Plants and Reactors; Source Material; Special Nuclear Material; Annual Charges; Holders of Certificates; Registrations; Approvals and Nonpayment Penalties

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