The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a rule to revise the fees it charges for license applications and certain other activities.
Under the proposed March 12 rule posted in the Federal Register, NRC would establish fixed caps on its service fees. Through Executive Order 14300, NRC has replaced its non-binding milestone schedules with fixed deadlines for final decisions.
The fixed deadlines include licensing decisions for new reactors to be made within 18 months and license renewal decisions within 12 months.
NRC is seeking to increase its professional hourly rate from $318 in fiscal 2025 to $336 in fiscal 2026. It will also increase its “reduced hourly rate” from $148 in fiscal 2025 to $154 in fiscal 2026. This is still less than the full professional rate of $318 per hour in effect prior to Oct. 1, 2025.
The reduced hourly rate was initiated by the ADVANCE Act for advanced reactor applicants and pre-applicants to help lower the financial barrier for new reactor technologies.
The proposed changes are meant to improve efficiency and predictability to assist licensees to navigate anticipated costs, NRC said in its March 12 press release.
Public comment on the proposal is open until April 13.
Due to the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA) requiring NRC to collect fees for fiscal 2026 by Sept. 30, 2026, NRC must finalize its fee schedule soon and cannot extend its comment period, according to the document.