Nuclear Regulatory Commission January 22, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations to improve decommissioning planning, and thereby reduce the likelihood that any current operating facility will become a legacy site. The amended regulations would require licensees to conduct their operations to minimize the introduction of residual radioactivity into the site, including subsurface soil and groundwater. Licensees also would be required to survey certain quantities or concentrations of residual radioactivity, including in subsurface areas, and keep records of surveys of subsurface residual radioactivity identified at the site with records important for decommissioning. The amended regulations would require licensees to report additional details in their decommissioning cost estimates, would eliminate two currently approved financial assurance mechanisms, and would modify the parent company guarantee and self-guarantee financial assurance mechanisms to authorize the NRC to require that guaranteed funds be immediately due and payable to a standby trust if the guarantor is in financial distress. Finally, the amended regulations would require decommissioning power reactor licensees to report additional information on the costs of decommissioning and spent fuel management.