Increase in the Maximum Amount of Primary Nuclear Liability Insurance, 71988-71990 [2023-23062]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 201 (Thursday, October 19, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 71988-71990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23062]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 140

[NRC-2023-0130]
RIN 3150-AL02


Increase in the Maximum Amount of Primary Nuclear Liability 
Insurance

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

[[Page 71989]]


ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its 
regulations to increase the required amount of primary nuclear 
liability insurance from $450 million to $500 million for each nuclear 
reactor that is licensed to operate, is designed for the production of 
electrical energy, and has a rated capacity of 100,000 electrical 
kilowatts or more. This change complies with the provision in the 
Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 1988 that states the amount of primary 
financial protection required of licensees by the NRC shall be the 
maximum amount available at reasonable cost and on reasonable terms 
from private sources.

DATES: This final rule is effective on January 1, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0130 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may 
obtain publicly available information related to this action by any of 
the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0130. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Dawn Forder; telephone: 301-415-3407; 
email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact the 
individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS 
Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public 
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number for 
each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the 
first time that it is mentioned in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stewart Schneider, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-4123, email: 
[email protected] and Mable Henderson, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-3760, email: 
[email protected]. Both are employees of the NRC.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. Discussion
II. Rulemaking Procedure
III. Section-by-Section Analysis
IV. Regulatory Flexibility Certification
V. Regulatory Analysis
VI. Backfitting and Issue Finality
VII. Plain Writing
VIII. National Environmental Policy
IX. Paperwork Reduction Act
X. Congressional Review Act

I. Discussion

    The NRC's regulations in part 140 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Financial Protection Requirements and 
Indemnity Agreements,'' provide requirements and procedures for 
implementing the financial protection requirements for certain 
licensees and other persons under the Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 
1988 (Pub. L. 100-408) (Price-Anderson Act), incorporated as Section 
170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA). The Price-
Anderson Act amended Sec.  170b.(1) to state that for facilities 
designed for producing substantial amounts of electricity and having a 
rated capacity of 100,000 electrical kilowatts or more (henceforth 
referred to as large operating reactors), ``the amount of primary 
financial protection required shall be the maximum amount available at 
reasonable cost and on reasonable terms from private sources.'' This 
requirement of the Price-Anderson Act is implemented in the NRC's 
regulations at Sec.  140.11 ``Amounts of financial protection for 
certain reactors.'' Section 140.11(a)(4) refers to the current dollar 
amount of the maximum amount liability insurance from private sources 
of $450 million. Therefore, Sec.  140.11(a)(4) currently requires large 
operating reactors to have and maintain primary nuclear liability 
insurance in the amount of $450 million.
    In a letter dated July 14, 2023, American Nuclear Insurers (ANI), 
the underwriter of American nuclear liability policies, acting on 
behalf of its member companies, notified the NRC that it will be 
increasing ``its maximum available primary nuclear liability limit from 
$450 million to $500 million, effective on January 1, 2024'' (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML23212A986). The ANI makes such adjustments on a non-
periodic basis. The last such adjustment was made in 2017, and the NRC 
revised Sec.  140.11 to reflect the increased maximum available amount 
of primary nuclear liability insurance (81 FR 96347; December 30, 
2016).
    To implement this adjustment, in accordance with the Price-Anderson 
Act, the NRC is revising 10 CFR part 140 to require large operating 
reactors to have and maintain $500 million in primary financial 
protection.
    The NRC is not currently revising the appendices in Sec.  140.91, 
Sec.  140.92, or Sec.  140.93 that provide general forms of liability 
policies and indemnity agreements that were determined to be acceptable 
to the Commission. These appendices include historical insurance 
providers and protection amounts for primary liability insurance that 
are no longer in use (for example, values of $124 million and $36 
million from the 1979 final rule (44 FR 20632; April 6, 1979) and 
values of $200 million, $155 million, and $45 million from the 1989 
final rule (54 FR 24157; June 6, 1989)). However, these appendices 
continue to provide relevant general forms of policies and agreements.

II. Rulemaking Procedure

    This final rule is being issued without prior public notice or 
opportunity for public comments. The Administrative Procedure Act (5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(B)) does not require an agency to use the public notice 
and comment process ``when the agency for good cause finds (and 
incorporates the finding and a brief statement of reasons therefore in 
the rules issued) that notice and public procedure thereon are 
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.'' In 
this instance, the NRC finds, for good cause, that solicitation of 
public comment on this final rule is unnecessary because the Price-
Anderson Act requires a non-discretionary adjustment in the maximum 
amount required for primary nuclear liability insurance. Requesting 
public comment on this non-discretionary adjustment, which is required 
by statute, would not result in a change to the adjusted amount.

III. Section-by-Section Analysis

    The following paragraph describes the specific changes that are 
reflected in this final rule.

Sec.  140.11 Amounts of Financial Protection for Certain Reactors

    In paragraph (a)(4), this final rule removes ``$450,000,000'' and 
replaces it with the increased maximum amount of

[[Page 71990]]

primary nuclear liability insurance of ``$500,000,000''.

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Certification

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act does not apply to regulations for 
which a Federal agency is not required by law, including the rulemaking 
provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553(b), to 
publish a general notice of proposed rulemaking (5 U.S.C. 604). As 
discussed in this document under Section II, ``Rulemaking Procedure,'' 
the NRC is not publishing this final rule for notice and comment. 
Accordingly, the NRC has determined that the requirements of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act do not apply to this final rule.

V. Regulatory Analysis

    A regulatory analysis was not prepared for this final rule because 
the change in the maximum amount of nuclear liability insurance is 
mandated by the Price-Anderson Act. This final rule does not involve an 
exercise of Commission discretion.

VI. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    The NRC has not prepared a backfit analysis for this final rule. 
This final rule does not involve any provision that would impose a 
backfit, nor is it inconsistent with any issue finality provision, as 
those terms are defined in 10 CFR chapter I. These mandatory 
adjustments are non-discretionary, required by statute, and do not 
represent any change in position by the NRC with respect to the design, 
construction, or operation of a licensed facility.

VII. 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 
31885).

VIII. National Environmental Policy Act

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

IX. Paperwork Reduction Act

    This final rule does not contain any new or amended collections of 
information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq.). Existing collections of information were approved by the 
Office of Management and Budget, approval number 3150-0039.

Public Protection Notification

    The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond to, a collection of information unless the document requesting 
or requiring the collection displays a currently valid OMB control 
number.

X. Congressional Review Act

    This final rule is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review 
Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget 
has not found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional 
Review Act.

List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 140

    Criminal penalties, Extraordinary nuclear occurrence, Insurance, 
Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear materials, Nuclear power plants 
and reactors, Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    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 adopting 
the following amendments to 10 CFR part 140.

PART 140--FINANCIAL PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS AND INDEMNITY 
AGREEMENTS

0
1. The authority citation for part 140 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Atomic Energy Act of 1954, secs. 161, 170, 223, 234 
(42 U.S.C. 2201, 2210, 2273, 2282); Energy Reorganization Act of 
1974, secs. 201, 202 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842); 44 U.S.C. 3504 note.


Sec.  140.11  [Amended]

0
2. In Sec.  140.11, amend paragraph (a)(4) by removing the number 
``$450,000,000'' and adding in its place the number ``$500,000,000''.

    Dated: September 29, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Scott A. Morris,
Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2023-23062 Filed 10-18-23; 8:45 am]
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