2019 Unlikely for NRC Decommissioning Rulemaking End Date, Staff Says

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decommissioning rulemaking most likely will not be completed until 2020, according to the NRC Staff’s Jan. 30 SECY-paper, released yesterday. In the NRC’s Staff Related Memorandum that initiated the rulemaking, the Commission directed Staff to try to complete the rulemaking by 2019, but according to the Staff, that would be an ambitious schedule. “The staff plans to conduct the rulemaking expeditiously and issue the final rule as soon as practicable,” the SECY paper said. “However, it will be extremely challenging to complete the decommissioning rulemaking in early 2019 without impacting the current decommissioning and non-decommissioning emergency planning licensing activities because of competing skill sets needed for both activities. To provide for timely progress on both activities, the staff will initially conduct preliminary rulemaking activities in parallel with the licensing actions, and increase its focus on the rulemaking as the licensing actions are completed.” Staff also estimated that the rulemaking would require 25 full-time equivalents and $2 million in contract support.