ML23144A321
| ML23144A321 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 06/22/2023 |
| From: | Osborne H NRC/OCFO |
| To: | Stadlander R Nuclear Energy Institute |
| Shared Package | |
| ML23144A315 | List: |
| References | |
| NEI 23-01 | |
| Download: ML23144A321 (4) | |
Text
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 June 22, 2023 Rick Stadtlander, Sr. Project Manager Engineering and Risk Nuclear Energy Institute 1201 F Street, NW, Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20004
SUBJECT:
LETTER TO RICK STADTLANDER IN RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR A FEE EXEMPTION FROM THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE FOR DRAFT NEI 23 01
Dear Rick Stadtlander:
On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff, I am responding to the Nuclear Energy Institutes (NEI) letter dated April 28, 2023 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML23143A123), requesting a fee exemption under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 170.11(a)(1)(ii) for the NRC staffs review of Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) Draft 23-01, Operator Cold License Training Plan for Advanced Nuclear Reactors.
The NRC has established regulations for the granting of fee exemptions under 10 CFR 170.11, Exemptions. An interested person may apply for an exemption under 10 CFR 170.11 in accordance with 10 CFR 170.5, Communications.1 The NRC staff reviewed NEIs request based on the regulations in 10 CFR 170.11(a)(1)(ii) and 10 CFR 170.11(d).
Paragraph 170.11(a)(1)(ii) states:
No application fees, license fees, renewal fees, inspection fees, or special project fees shall be required for: (1) A special project that is a request/report submitted to the NRC . . . (ii) When the NRC, at the time the request/report is submitted, plans to use the information to assist the NRC in generic regulatory improvements or efforts (e.g., rules, regulatory guides, regulations, policy statements, generic letters, or bulletins).
Paragraph 170.11(d) states:
All fee exemption requests must be submitted in writing to the Chief Financial Officer in accordance with § 170.5, and the Chief Financial Officer will grant or deny such requests in writing.
1 10 CFR 170.5 provides that [a]ll communications concerning the regulations in this part should be addressed to the NRCs Chief Financial Officer, either by mail to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; by hand delivery to the NRCs offices at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland; or, where practicable, by electronic submission, for example, via Electronic Information Exchange, or CD-ROM.
R. Stadtlander Your letter states that review of NEI 23-01 will assist the NRC in generic regulatory improvements or efforts by minimizing variations in applicants approaches to operator cold license training, thus potentially saving review time on the part of the NRC staff. You also indicate that the draft technical report is being provided to staff to collect comments and observations to ensure there are not significant staff concerns with the guidance. It will then be updated as needed and submitted to the NRC for endorsement. Finally, your letter requests that portions of NEI 23-01 be withheld from public disclosure pursuant to 10 CFR 2.390,2 and adds that NEI will make the document available to all members and to nonmembers for a reasonable fee.
After review of the fee exemption request, the NRC staff has determined that NEIs request for NRC review of draft NEI 23-01 does not meet the criteria for an exemption pursuant to 10 CFR 170(a)(1)(ii) as a generic regulatory improvement or effort. The request states that NEI 23-01 would provide applicants for Advanced Nuclear Reactors with a standard plan to train and license operators before construction of the plant is complete, but does not sufficiently explain how this document will assist the NRC in generic regulatory improvements or efforts for the benefit of a non-arbitrary class, as opposed to a benefit exclusively for NEI members or others willing to pay NEI a fee for use of the document. Generic regulatory improvements in the context of 10 CFR Part 170 typically apply to a broad group of licensees. The key question, though, is not how many licensees an action applies to, but whether the NRCs associated review allows the agency to make programmatic regulatory improvements that apply to a generic and non-arbitrary class. NEI 06-13A, Template for an Industry Training Program Description, Revision 1, which has previously both been accepted by the NRC (ML082950140) and is publicly available, already contains guidance for the cold licensing of licensed operators and could be used by advanced nuclear reactor applicants to inform their programs. Finally, the letter does not identify how an NRC review without endorsement or action by the NRC would assist in generic regulatory improvements. Because almost all of NEI 23-01 will be non-public and not available to non-NEI members without a fee, it appears that any potential programmatic improvement would benefit a specific class rather than a generic, non-arbitrary class.
The Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA), requires the NRC to recover through fees, to the maximum extent practicable, approximately 100 percent of its annual budget authority, less the budget authority for excluded activities. Under NEIMA, annual fees must fairly and equitably allocate the aggregate amount of annual fees among licensees and certificate holders. In this case, it would not be fair to recover, through annual fees to the operating power reactors fee class, the NRC costs that were derived from reviewing a specific NEI request for the benefit of NEI members and those paying NEI for use of the document when there would be no corresponding regulatory improvement generically applicable to a non-arbitrary class of licensees.
2 Although NEI requests that portions of NEI 23-01 be withheld, the only pages not marked as proprietary are the cover page and the glossary.
R. Stadtlander If you have any technical questions regarding this matter, please contact Jesse Seymour at 301-415-0589. Please contact Billy Blaney, of my staff, at 301-415-5092 for any fee-related questions.
Sincerely, Signed by Osborne, Howard on 06/22/23 Howard Osborne Chief Financial Officer
R. Stadtlander
SUBJECT:
LETTER TO RICK STADTLANDER IN RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR A FEE EXEMPTION FROM THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE FOR DRAFT NEI 23 01, DATED: JUNE 22, 2023 DISTRIBUTION:
RidsOcfoMailCenter NAridi, OCFO TBuchanan, NRR ROber, NRR JSeymour, NRR STonsfeldt, NRR RidsNrrOd Resource ADAMS Accession Number: ML23144A315 Package; ML23144A321 Letter OFFICE OCFO/DOB OCFO/DOB NRR/DANU NRR/DRO NRR/DANU NAME JJacobs BBlaney SLynch KMiller MShams DATE 05/24/2023 05/25/2023 05/31/2023 05/25/2023 06/02/2023 OFFICE NRR/DRO OGC OCFO/DOC OCFO/DOC OCFO/DOB NAME RFelts AValentine NLO RRevinzon MBlair ARossi DATE 05/31/2023 06/21/2023 06/05/2023 06/05/2023 06/22/2023 OFFICE OCFO/DOB OCFO/DOB CFO CFO NAME RAllwein JShay JCorbett HOsborne DATE 06/22/2023 06/22/2023 06/22/2023 06/22/2023 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY