The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week that most of its licensees should expect a reduction in annual fees for fiscal 2016, as the agency works through regulation changes for licensing, inspection, special project, and fee schedules.
NRC is accepting public comment on the proposed changes through April 22. The fiscal 2016 proposed rule would result in fee reductions for operating reactors, fuel facilities, research and test reactors, spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning licensees, some materials users, and Department of Energy transportation activities, according to a press release. However, fees would increase for most uranium recovery licensees.
NRC recovers about 90 percent of its budget through charging these federally mandated fees. Estimated fee recovery for the fiscal 2016 fee rule is $883.9 million, $558.1 million of which would be billed as annual fees under 10 CFR Part 171. The other $325.8 million would be billed under 10 CFR Part 170.
Each licensed power reactor is assessed an annual spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning fee. That amount is proposed to go from $223,000 to $211,000. Total fee recovery in this area would decrease from $27.2 million to $25.7 million, a 5.8 percent drop from 2015 to 2016.
According to the press release, one significant change from fiscal 2015 is the recommendation to lower the current hourly rate for general staff review time from $268 to $266. A second major change proposed would establish a fee structure for significant requests for information, records, or NRC employee testimony associated with lawsuits in which the commission is not a named party. As proposed, the NRC would assess fees on requests that require more than 50 staff hours.
