10 C.F.R. §§ 53.1010–53.1060

This section establishes requirements for indicating to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) how an applicant for or holder of an OL or COL under this part will provide reasonable assurance that funds will be available for the decommissioning process. Reasonable assurance consists of a series of steps as provided in paragraph (b) of this section and §§ 53.1020, 53.1030 and 53.1040. Funding for the decommissioning of commercial nuclear plants may also be subject to the regulation of Federal or State government agencies (e.g., Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and State Public Utility Commissions) that have jurisdiction over rate regulation. The requirements of this subpart, in particular § 53.1020, are in addition to, and not a substitution for, other requirements, and are not intended to be used by themselves or by other agencies to establish rates.

Each applicant for an OL or COL under this part must prepare a plan and an associated decommissioning report that ensures and documents that adequate funding will be available to decommission the facility. Each holder of an OL or COL must implement and maintain the plan.

A site-specific adjustment factor must address the estimated contributions and escalation of costs for the following aspects of decommissioning:

A generic adjustment factor must be at least equal to 0.65 L + 0.13 E + 0.22 B, where L and E are escalation factors for labor and energy, respectively, and are to be taken from regional data of U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics and B is an escalation factor for waste burial and is to be taken from NRC report NUREG-1307, “Report on Waste Burial Charges.”

Prepayment. Prepayment is the deposit made preceding the start of operation or the transfer of a license under § 53.1570 into an account segregated from licensee assets and outside the administrative control of the licensee and its subsidiaries or affiliates of cash or liquid assets such that the amount of funds would be sufficient to pay decommissioning costs. Prepayment may be in the form of a trust, escrow account, or Government fund with payment by certificate of deposit, deposit of government or other securities, or other method acceptable to the NRC. This trust, escrow account, Government fund, or other type of agreement must be established in writing and maintained at all times in the United States with an entity that is an appropriate State or Federal government agency, or an entity whose operations in which the prepayment deposit is managed are regulated and examined by a Federal or State agency. A licensee that has prepaid funds based on a site-specific cost estimate under § 53.1020 may take credit for projected earnings on the prepaid decommissioning trust funds, using up to a 2 percent annual real rate of return through the time of termination of the license. A licensee may use a credit of greater than 2 percent if the licensee's rate-setting authority has specifically authorized a higher rate. Actual earnings on existing funds may be used to calculate future fund needs.

External sinking fund. An external sinking fund is a fund established and maintained by setting funds aside periodically in an account segregated from licensee assets and outside the administrative control of the licensee and its subsidiaries or affiliates in which the total amount of funds would be sufficient to pay decommissioning costs. An external sinking fund may be in the form of a trust, escrow account, or Government fund, with payment by certificate of deposit, deposit of government or other securities, or other method acceptable to the NRC. This trust, escrow account, Government fund, or other type of agreement must be established in writing and maintained at all times in the United States with an entity that is an appropriate State or Federal government agency, or an entity whose operations in which the external sinking fund is managed are regulated and examined by a Federal or State agency. A licensee that has collected funds based on a site-specific cost estimate under § 53.1020 may take credit for projected earnings on the external sinking funds using up to a 2 percent annual real rate of return from the time of future funds' collection through the time of termination of the license. A licensee may use a credit of greater than 2 percent if the licensee's rate-setting authority has specifically authorized a higher rate. Actual earnings on existing funds may be used to calculate future fund needs. A licensee whose rates for decommissioning costs cover only a portion of these costs may make use of this method only for the portion of these costs that are collected in one of the manners described in this paragraph (b). This method may be used as the exclusive mechanism relied upon for providing financial assurance for decommissioning in the following circumstances:

Funding method for Federal licensees. For a Federal licensee, a statement of intent containing a cost estimate for decommissioning and indicating that funds for decommissioning will be obtained when necessary.

Contractual funding method. Contractual obligation(s) on the part of a licensee's customer(s), the total amount of which over the duration of the contract(s) will provide the licensee's total share of uncollected funds estimated to be needed for decommissioning pursuant to § 53.1020, § 53.1060, or § 53.1575. To be acceptable to the NRC as a method of decommissioning funding assurance, the terms of the contract(s) must include provisions that the buyer(s) of electricity or other products will pay for the decommissioning obligations specified in the contract(s), notwithstanding the operational status either of the licensed plant to which the contract(s) pertains or force majeure provisions. All proceeds from the contract(s) for decommissioning funding will be deposited to the external sinking fund. The NRC reserves the right to evaluate the terms of any contract(s) and the financial qualifications of the contracting entity or entities offered as assurance for decommissioning funding.

Other funding mechanisms. Any other mechanism, or combination of mechanisms, that provides, as determined by the NRC upon its evaluation of the specific circumstances of each licensee submittal, assurance of decommissioning funding equivalent to that provided by the mechanisms specified in paragraphs (a) through (e) of this section. Licensees who do not have sources of funding described in paragraph (b) of this section may use an external sinking fund in combination with a guarantee mechanism, as specified in paragraph (c) of this section, provided that the total amount of funds estimated to be necessary for decommissioning is assured.

Licensees that are not “electric utilities” as defined in § 53.020 that use prepayment or an external sinking fund to provide financial assurance must provide in the terms of the arrangements governing the trust, escrow account, or Government fund, used to segregate and manage the funds that—

Licensees that are “electric utilities” under § 53.020 that use prepayment or an external sinking fund to provide financial assurance must include a provision in the terms of the trust, escrow account, Government fund, or other account used to segregate and manage funds that except for withdrawals being made under paragraph (a) of this section or for payments of ordinary administrative costs (including taxes) and other incidental expenses of the fund (including legal, accounting, actuarial, and trustee expenses) in connection with the operation of the fund, no disbursement or payment may be made from the trust, escrow account, Government fund, or other account used to segregate and manage the funds until written notice of the intention to make a disbursement or payment has been given the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, or Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, as applicable, at least 30 working days before the date of the intended disbursement or payment. The disbursement or payment from the trust, escrow account, Government fund or other account may be made following the 30 working day notice period if the person responsible for managing the trust, escrow account, Government fund, or other account does not receive written notice of objection from the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, or Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, as applicable, within the notice period. Disbursements or payments from the trust, escrow account, Government fund, or other account used to segregate and manage the funds, other than for payment of ordinary administrative costs (including taxes) and other incidental expenses of the fund (including legal, accounting, actuarial, and trustee expenses) in connection with the operation of the fund, are restricted to decommissioning expenses or transfer to another financial assurance method acceptable under § 53.1040 until final decommissioning has been completed. After decommissioning has begun and withdrawals from the decommissioning fund are made under paragraph (a) of this section, no further notification need be made to the NRC.

A licensee that is not an “electric utility” under § 53.020 and using a surety method, insurance, or other guarantee method to provide financial assurance must provide that the trust established for decommissioning costs to which the surety or insurance is payable contains in its terms the requirements in § 53.1045(b)(1) through (b)(4).

Each holder of an OL under this part or holder of a COL under this part after the date that the Commission has made the finding under § 53.1452(g) must report, at least once every 2 years, by March 31, on the status of its certification of decommissioning funding for each commercial nuclear reactor or part of a commercial nuclear reactor that it owns. The information in this report must include, at a minimum, the amount of decommissioning funds estimated to be required under §§ 53.1020 and 53.1030; the amount of decommissioning funds accumulated to the end of the calendar year preceding the date of the report; a schedule of the annual amounts remaining to be collected; the assumptions used regarding rates of escalation in decommissioning costs, rates of earnings on decommissioning funds, and rates of other factors used in funding projections; any contracts upon which the licensee is relying under § 53.1040(e); any modifications occurring to a licensee's method of providing financial assurance since the last submitted report; and any material changes to trust agreements. If any of the preceding items is not applicable, the licensee should so state in its report. Any licensee for a plant that is within 5 years of the projected end of its operation, or where conditions have changed such that it will close within 5 years (before the end of its licensed life), or that has already closed (before the end of its licensed life), or that is involved in a merger or an acquisition must submit this report annually.

Each holder of a COL under this part must, 2 years before and 1 year before the scheduled date for initial loading of fuel (or, for a fueled manufactured reactor, 2 years before and 1 year before the scheduled date for initiating the removal of the features to prevent criticality required under § 53.620(d)(1)) submit a report to the NRC containing a certification updating the DCEs and a copy of the financial instrument to be used to satisfy § 53.1040. No later than 30 days after the Commission publishes notice in the Federal Register under § 53.1452(a), the licensee must submit an updated decommissioning report required under § 53.1010(b)(1)(ii), including a copy of the financial instrument obtained to satisfy § 53.1040.

Each licensee must keep records of information important to the safe and effective decommissioning of the facility in an identified location until the license is terminated by the Commission. If records of relevant information are kept for other purposes, reference to these records and their locations may be used. Information the Commission considers important to decommissioning consists of—

Each holder of an OL or COL under this part must at or about 5 years prior to the projected end of operations submit a preliminary DCE which includes an up-to-date assessment of the major factors that could affect the cost to decommission.

Prior to or within 2 years following permanent cessation of operations, the licensee must submit a PSDAR to the NRC, and a copy to the affected State(s). The PSDAR must contain a description of the planned decommissioning activities along with a schedule for their accomplishment, a discussion that provides the reasons for concluding that the environmental impacts associated with site-specific decommissioning activities will be bounded by appropriate previously issued environmental impact statements, and a site-specific DCE, including the projected cost of managing irradiated fuel.

For decommissioning activities that delay completion of decommissioning by including a period of storage or surveillance, the licensee must provide a means of adjusting cost estimates and associated funding levels over the storage or surveillance period.

After submitting its site-specific DCE required by paragraph (e) of this section, and until the licensee has completed its final radiation survey and demonstrated that residual radioactivity has been reduced to a level that permits termination of its license, the licensee must annually submit to the NRC, by March 31, a financial assurance status report. The report must include the following information, current through the end of the previous calendar year:

After submitting its site-specific DCE required by paragraph (e) of this section, the licensee must annually submit to the NRC, by March 31, a report on the status of its funding for managing irradiated fuel. The report must include the following information, current through the end of the previous calendar year: