ML24088A129
| ML24088A129 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/07/2024 |
| From: | NRC/OCM |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML24088A120 | List: |
| References | |
| NRC-2717 | |
| Download: ML24088A129 (1) | |
Text
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
MEETING ON THE FISCAL YEAR 2024 PROPOSED FEE RULE Docket Number:
N/A Location:
Videoconference Date:
03-07-2024 Work Order No.:
NRC-2717 Pages 1-70 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1716 14th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009
(202) 234-4433
1 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 2
+ + + + +
3 MEETING ON THE FISCAL YEAR 2024 PROPOSED FEE RULE 4
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5
- THURSDAY, 6
MARCH 7, 2024 7
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8 The meeting was convened via 9
Videoconference, at 10:00 a.m. EST, Sophie Holiday, 10 Facilitator, presiding.
11 12 PRESENT:
13 SOPHIE HOLIDAY, Facilitator 14 BILLY BLANEY, Budget Analyst, Office of the Chief 15 Financial Officer 16 MELISSA CHUI, Financial Management Specialist, 17 Labor Administration and Fee Billing Branch, 18 Division of the Comptroller, Office of the 19 Chief Financial Officer 20 CHRISTINE GALSTER, Senior Accountant, Office of the 21 Chief Financial Officer 22 JENNIFER GOLDER, Acting Chief Financial Officer 23 JO JACOBS, Senior Budget Analyst, Office of the 24 Chief Financial Officer 25
2 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com SAMANTHA LAV, Chief, Fuel Facility Licensing 1
Branch, Division of Fuel Management, Office 2
of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards 3
MARC NEVILLE, Director, Division of Budget, Office 4
of the Chief Financial Officer 5
ANTHONY ROSSI, Team Lead, License Fee Policy Team, 6
Division of Budget, Office of the Chief 7
Financial Officer 8
BRIAN SMITH, Director, Division of New and Renewed 9
Licenses, Office of Nuclear Reactor 10 Regulation 11 JEN WHITMAN, Deputy Director, Division of Uranium 12 Recovery and Waste Programs, Office of 13 Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards 14 15 ALSO PRESENT:
16 JOHN BUTLER, Nuclear Energy Institute 17 MIKE CALLAHAN, Decommissioning Plant Coalition 18 HILARY LANE, Nuclear Energy Institute 19 JANET SCHLUETER, Nuclear Energy Institute 20 21
3 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com TABLE OF CONTENTS 1
Page 2
Welcome and Logistics 4
3 Opening Remarks 10 4
FY 2024 Proposed Fee Rule Overview 12 5
Proposed Administrative Change 49 6
Questions and Answers 51 7
How to Submit Public Comments 71 8
Closing Remarks/Adjourn 73 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
4 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com P R O C E E D I N G S 1
10:02 a.m.
2 MS. HOLIDAY: Good morning, everyone, 3
and welcome to today's virtual public meeting to 4
discuss the NRC's fiscal year 2024 proposed fee 5
rule. My name is Sophie Holiday, and I am a Senior 6
Emergency Response Coordinator here at the U.S.
7 Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC as you'll 8
hear it referred to during this meeting. It is my 9
pleasure to serve as your facilitator today.
10 Before I launch into my remarks, I would 11 like to highlight a few things. First, I'd like to 12 inform you that, for accessibility purposes, you 13 may turn on the closed captioning for this meeting 14 by selecting the three dots on the top of your 15 screen labeled more from the drop-down menu.
16 Depending on your version of Microsoft Teams, you 17 can select language and speech, turn on live 18 captions, or you can select settings, 19 accessibility, and toggle captions to always show 20 captions in my meetings.
21 Second, this is a virtual public meeting 22 with attendees that are joining us online via 23 Microsoft Teams. You may notice that the chat 24 feature has been disabled. If you encounter any 25
5 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com technical issues with Teams during this meeting, 1
please feel free to reach out to myself via Teams 2
or via email at Sophie, that's S-O-P-H-I-E, dot 3
Holiday, H-O-L-I-D-A-Y, at nrc.gov. You can also 4
join this meeting through the Teams audio-only 5
bridgeline by dialing 301-576-2978 with phone 6
conference ID number 902650260#. Again, that's 7
phone number 301-576-2978 with phone conference ID 8
number 902650260#.
9 We have three goals for today's meeting.
10 The first goal is to provide you with an overview 11 of the budgetary considerations associated with the 12 fiscal year 2024 proposed fee rule, which was 13 published in the Federal Register on 14 February 20, 2024, citation 89 FR 12759. The 15 second goal is to answer any clarifying questions 16 that you may have, and the third goal is, of 17 course, to share the different methods by which you 18 may submit your comments on the proposed fee rule 19 by the deadline of March 21, 2024.
20 Now, a term that you're going to hear a 21 lot today is fees, which simply refers to the 22 amount of money that the NRC charges to applicants 23 and licensees for the services we provide. Under 24 the Independent Offices Appropriation Act of 1952, 25
6 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com or IOAA, we are statutorily required to recover the 1
costs for NRC work that provides specific benefits 2
to identifiable recipients, such as licensing 3
activities, inspections, and special projects.
4 You will also hear the term NEIMA, which 5
stands for the Nuclear Energy Innovation and 6
Modernization Act. NEIMA requires that the NRC 7
recovers, to the maximum extent practicable, 8
approximately 100 percent of the Commission's 9
budget authority each fiscal year, less those 10 activities excluded from fee recovery. There will 11 be other terms or acronyms referenced on the 12 slides, which are defined in the glossary found at 13 the very last slide.
14 If you could go to the next slide, 15 please. Okay. As you can see on this slide, the 16 meeting will essentially have three parts. First, 17 we'll hear presentations from NRC staff to 18 highlight the fiscal year 2024 budget and proposed 19 fee rule, followed by a licensee fee policy 20 overview and presentations to cover the nuclear 21 reactor safety program, which includes the 22 operating new reactors business lines, the fuel 23 facilities business line, and the decommissioning 24 and low-level waste business line.
25
7 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com The second part of the meeting will 1
include a presentation on the 11 proposed 2
administrative changes, which seeks to align the 3
U.S. Department -- excuse me -- which seeks to 4
align with the U.S. Department of Treasury's No-5 Cash/No-Check policy by clarifying available 6
payment methods.
7 The last part, I will facilitate a 8
question-and-answer session, during which you can 9
interact with the staff to ask any clarifying 10 questions on the proposed rule.
11 Now let's cover a few ground rules. As 12 stated earlier, this is a completely virtual public 13 meeting that's being held on Microsoft Teams. A 14 link to the presentation slides that you see before 15 you can be found on the NRC's public meeting 16 schedule website or in NRC's Agencywide Documents 17 Access and Management System, commonly referred to 18 as ADAMS, at Accession Number ML24066A002.
19 Please keep in mind that we are 20 transcribing this meeting to make sure we fully 21 capture your questions and to assist in development 22 of a meeting summary. This summary will also be 23 placed into ADAMS as a publicly-available document 24 approximately 30 days after the conclusion of this 25
8 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com meeting.
1 You can help us get a clean recording 2
and have a smooth meeting by muting your telephones 3
and/or microphones when you're not speaking.
4 Additionally, we ask that you minimize any 5
background noise if you choose to speak and that 6
you identify yourself and any group or 7
organizational affiliation, if applicable.
8 The NRC categorizes this meeting as an 9
information meeting with a question-and-answer 10 session, so attendees will have an opportunity to 11 ask questions of the NRC staff or make comments 12 about the topics discussed throughout the meeting.
13 However, the NRC is not accepting any comments made 14 at today's meeting as official comments on the 15 proposed rule. Rather, comments will have to be 16 submitted in writing to receive formal 17 consideration. We'll be going over the various 18 ways you can provide your formal comments later on 19 in the meeting.
20 Again, our chat feature is closed, and 21 that is primarily so that we do not inadvertently 22 miss any comments or questions that you may have so 23 that it can be captured by the court reporter in 24 the official meeting transcript. Again, if you 25
9 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com encounter any technical difficulties, please feel 1
free to reach out to me.
2 Now I'd like to take a moment to 3
introduce the NRC staff panelists in attendance 4
today. We have Marc Neville, the budget director, 5
who will be discussing how our budget reflects our 6
activities and the relationship between budget and 7
fees.
8 Next, we'll have Tony Rossi, the team 9
lead for the Licensee Policy Team within the Office 10 of the Chief Financial Officer, who will provide a 11 license fee policy overview of the fiscal year 2024 12 proposed fee rule. Then we'll have Brian Smith, 13 the Division Director for the Division of New and 14 Renewed Licenses in the Office of Nuclear Reactor 15 Regulation, or NRR, who will discuss the reactor 16 safety program, which consists of the operating and 17 new reactors business line.
18 Next, we'll have a presentation from 19 Samantha Lav, Chief of the Fuel Facility Licensing 20 Branch within the Division of Fuel Management in 21 the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 22 Safeguards, or NMSS, who will provide an overview 23 of the fuel facilities business line. Next, we'll 24 have a presentation from Jen Whitman, Deputy 25
10 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Director for the Division of Decommissioning, 1
Uranium Recovery, and Waste Programs in NMSS, who 2
will provide an overview of the decommissioning 3
low-level waste business line.
4 Then we'll have a presentation from 5
Melissa Chui, Financial Management Specialist in 6
the Labor Administration and Fee Billing Branch, 7
Division of the Comptroller, within OCFO. She'll 8
provide us with an overview of the proposed 9
administrative changes regarding electronic payment 10 methods.
11 And last but not least, I'd like to 12 introduce you to Jennifer Golder, the acting Chief 13 Financial Officer, who I will now turn the meeting 14 over for some opening remarks. Jennifer, please 15 take it away. Oh, I can't hear you, Jennifer. I'm 16 so sorry.
17 MS. GOLDER: Thank you, Sophie. Good 18 morning. I'm Jennifer Golder, the acting Chief 19 Financial Officer of the Nuclear Regulatory 20 Commission. I'm happy to be here today as we 21 engage with NRC stakeholders around the fiscal year 22 2024 proposed fee rule. I would like to share my 23 deep appreciation for my staff's work developing 24 this year's fee rule and acknowledge that their 25
11 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com success would not be possible without our various 1
partner offices across the NRC.
2 I also want to thank you for joining us 3
today in this public meeting. It is our view that 4
this virtual format enhances our dialogue with our 5
stakeholders, and we welcome your questions and 6
comments during the Q&A portion of the meeting.
7 Next slide, please. I want to briefly 8
emphasize the types of inquiries that would be 9
considered in-scope for this meeting on the 10 proposed fee rule. Today's panel is best prepared 11 to provide timely responses on topics that are 12 within scope. Some examples of in-scope comments 13 are the NRC's methodology for calculating fees, 14 changes to fee regulations or the fee schedules.
15 A few examples of what we consider to be 16 out-of-scope comments are general comments on 17 agency efficiencies, regulatory practices and 18 processes, technical guidance to licensees, or 19 public participation in the budget formulation 20 process. Even though this meeting on our fees is 21 not the proper venue for out-of-scope questions, we 22 do want to hear from you, and we encourage you to 23 use the appropriate venues so we can address any 24 comments or concerns directly.
25
12 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com In closing, I want to emphasize that the 1
NRC is continuing evaluating our fee-setting 2
process to determine improvements to increase 3
transparency, equity, and timeliness. As always, 4
we welcome your questions and formal comments and 5
look forward to a continued dialogue with you, our 6
stakeholders.
7 Again, thank you for your participation.
8 And I will now turn the meeting over to our budget 9
director, Marc Neville, who will provide a budget 10 overview of the key considerations that relate to 11 the fiscal year 2024 proposed fee rule. Next 12 slide, please.
13 MR. NEVILLE: Good morning, everyone.
14 My name is Marc Neville. I've been assigned as the 15 budget director here for about a month, and I'm 16 going to go over the FY 2024 budget as it relates 17 to fee policy.
18 Next slide. In the FY 2024 budget 19 request column, the NRC's FY 2024 budget request 20 reflects resources necessary to accomplish mission-21 critical activities related to safety and security 22 in the nuclear reactor safety program and the 23 nuclear material and waste safety program. In the 24 FY 2024 budget request, it is slightly over $1 25
13 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com billion, and it includes 2,948 FTE and proposes the 1
use of $27.1 million in carryover to offset nuclear 2
reactor safety budget.
3 The total budget authority used in the 4
FY 2024 proposed fee rule is $979.2 million. The 5
resources requested for FY 2024 increased by $63.2 6
million before applying carryover when compared to 7
the FY 2023 enacted budget. The resources 8
increased by $52.1 million, including an increase 9
of 89.3 FTE when compared to the FY 2023 enacted 10 budget after applying the proposed utilization of 11 carryover.
12 In the FY 2024 budget request, resources 13 for the nuclear reactor safety budget are $530.8 14 million, which includes 1,807 FTE. This is an 15 increase of $40.1 million and 53.5 FTE when 16 compared to the FY 2023 enacted budget.
17 The proposed use of $27.1 million in 18 carryover applied between operating and new reactor 19 business lines with a split of $26.6 million and 20
$0.6 million respectively, an increase in the 21 nuclear reactor safety programs primarily to 22 support salary and benefits in accordance with OMB 23 guidance. Resources also increased to support new 24 reactor licensing activities and the review of 25
14 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com license renewal applications.
1 As mentioned in the beginning of the 2
meeting, Brian Smith will be providing a 3
presentation on nuclear reactor safety program, 4
including a discussion on workload, later during 5
this meeting.
6 In the FY 2024 budget request, resources 7
for material and waste safety program are $152.9 8
million, which includes 480.9 FTE. This is an 9
increase of $17.5 million and 16.7 FTE, primarily 10 due to increases in salaries and benefits and 11 support workload changes within the program.
12 Within the fuel facility business line, 13 FTE increases to support licenses actions, such as 14 those related to enrichment and manufacturing of 15 high-assay low-enrichment uranium and accident 16 tolerant fuel, the review of applications related 17 to the review of one new fuel facility license 18 application and one new medical isotope production 19 facility, and programmatic oversight and inspection 20 in support of Category II fuel facilities and the 21 anticipated new medical isotope production 22 facility.
23 Within the decommissioning and low-level 24 waste business line, the FTE increased to support 25
15 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com licensing and oversight activities for the reactor 1
decommissioning program, which includes both power 2
and non-power reactors in various stages of 3
decommissioning.
4 Later, during the presentation, Samantha 5
Lav and Jen Whitman will also be providing 6
presentations on fuel facilities and 7
decommissioning and low-level waste business lines, 8
including the discussion of workload in their 9
respective business lines.
10 The resources for corporate support 11 business lines are $304 million, which include 588 12 FTE. This is an increase of $18.7 million and 9 13 FTE when compared to the FY 2023 enacted budget.
14 The corporate support business line constitutes 15 approximately 30 percent of the agency's total 16 budget authority and reflects the agency's effort 17 to meet the corporate support cap in Section 18 102(a)(3)(a) of the NEIMA, Nuclear Energy 19 Innovation and Modernization Act, to the maximum 20 extent practical. Increases can be primarily 21 attributed to the increases in salary and benefits 22 consistent with OMB guidance, IT security support 23 to comply with cyber executive order activities, 24 directives, and mandates, updates of legacy 25
16 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com components and escalations in information 1
technology costs, the number of planned paid 2
relocation moves for permanent change of station, 3
the Minority Serving Institutions grant program, 4
and maintenance of mandated acquisition systems.
5 Regarding carryover, each fiscal year, 6
the NRC follows the direction of Congress in the 7
explanatory statement that accompanies the annual 8
appropriations. In FY 2023, Congress directed the 9
NRC to use $16 million in authorized carryover to 10 fund the University Nuclear Leadership Program, or 11 UNLP. Carryover may be used to describe funds that 12 were appropriated but not obligated in the prior 13 fiscal year or funds that would be obligated 14 because the funds were no longer needed in 15 subsequent fiscal years.
16 While Congressional direction to use 17 carryover has been a trend either to offset our 18 budget or to fund UNLP, the agency has received 19 questions from stakeholders on the use of carryover 20 in previous fee rules. As I mentioned previously, 21 the FY 2024 budget request and the FY 2024 proposed 22 fee rule proposes the use of $27.1 million in 23 carryover to offset the nuclear reactor safety 24 budget. However, if the enacted budget authority 25
17 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com for FY 2024 does not include the utilization of 1
$27.1 million in carryover to offset the nuclear 2
reactor safety budget, it is likely that the annual 3
fee for operating power reactors fee class could 4
increase.
5 The NRC will follow the direction of 6
Congress in the explanatory statement that will 7
accompany the appropriation for FY 2024. Any 8
changes will be reflected in NRC's FY 2024 final 9
fee rule. For this meeting, we will consider the 10 use of carryover in future budgets out of scope.
11 This meeting is focusing on discussing the FY 2024 12 proposed fee rule.
13 Next slide. The NRC must recover to the 14 maximum extent practical $823.2 million of its 15 FY 2024 budget request from fees assessed to NRC 16 licensees and applicants. This results in a net 17 budget authority of $156 billion, an increase of 18
$19 million when compared to the FY 2023 enacted 19 budget. NEIMA requires the NRC to recover to the 20 maximum extent practical approximately 100 percent 21 of its annual budget, less certain amounts excluded 22 from this fee recovery requirement. Under NEIMA, 23 excluded activities include any fee-relief activity 24 as identified by the Commission, generic homeland 25
18 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com security activities, Waste Incidental to 1
Reprocessing activities, Nuclear Waste Fund 2
activities, advanced reactor regulatory 3
infrastructure activities, Inspector General 4
services for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety 5
Board, research and development at universities in 6
areas relevant to NRC's mission, and a nuclear 7
science and engineering grant program. In FY 2024, 8
in addition to fee-relief activities identified by 9
the Commission in prior fee rules, the resources 10 for the Minority Serving Institutions grant program 11 are also identified as a fee-relief activity to 12 exclude from the fee recovery requirement.
13 Some examples of fee-relief activities 14 include international activities, regulatory 15 support to Agreement States, fee exemptions for 16 nonprofit educational institutions, and Agreement 17 State oversight. After accounting for the 18 exclusion from the fee recovery requirement and any 19 net billing adjustments, the NRC estimates that it 20 must recover approximately $825.7 million in fees 21 in FY 2024, which Tony Rossi will go over in 22 further detail during his presentation.
23 And with that, I'll turn the 24 presentation over to Tony Rossi who will be 25
19 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com discussing our fee calculations.
1 MR. ROSSI: Thank you, Marc. Good 2
morning. My name is Tony Rossi. I'm the team lead 3
for the licensee fee policy team.
4 Next slide, please. On this slide I'll 5
review the primary statutes that direct NRC's fee 6
recovery. The Independent Offices Appropriation 7
Act, also known as IOAA, requires agencies to 8
collect fees for direct services rendered through 9
identifiable recipients. The NRC regulations 10 implementing the IOAA are established at 11 10 CFR Part 170.
12 The Nuclear Energy Innovation and 13 Modernization Act, referred to as NEIMA, repealed 14 the former fee statutory requirement under OBRA 90, 15 which was in effect from 1990 through 2020. NEIMA 16 directed several fee-related changes: to increase 17 the fee recovery requirement in effect under OBRA 18 90 from 90 percent of the appropriated budget less 19 excluded and fee-relief activities to recovery of 20 100 percent of the appropriated budget less 21 excluded and fee-relief activities; it placed the 22 cap on operating power reactor annual fees equal to 23 the fiscal year 2015 power reactor annual fee 24 adjusted annually for inflation; it included 25
20 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com certain activities from the recovery requirement, 1
including any additional activities identified by 2
the Commission for fee-relief.
3 The NRC regulations implementing the 4
NEIMA annual fee requirements are established at 5
10 CFR Part 171. Also, the annual appropriation 6
contains further instructions and/or limitations on 7
the use of funds, as well as authorizing the use of 8
carryover funds from the prior fiscal year.
9 Congress must authorize the use of carryover funds.
10 Next slide, please. This slide provides 11 an overview of how the fee recovery amounts are 12 initially determined. For fiscal year 2024, the 13 total budget authority proposed in the NRC budget 14 request, the Congressional Budget Justification, or 15 CBJ, for the salaries and expense and the inspector 16 general appropriations is $979.2 million. Excluded 17 activities of $156 million are subtracted from the 18
$979.2 million total budget authority, and the 19 excluded activities consist of generic homeland 20 security, Waste Incidental to Reprocessing, the IG 21 activities in support of the Defense Nuclear 22 Facilities Safety Board, the advanced reactor 23 regulatory infrastructure, and fee-relief. The 24 100-percent recovery rate under NEIMA is then 25
21 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com applied, resulting in the total amount to be 1
recovered of $823.2 million.
2 Billing adjustments for Part 171 fee 3
collections are applied. Generally, these are fees 4
billed in the prior fiscal year but paid in the 5
current fiscal year, plus estimates of this year's 6
bill fees that will be unpaid by September 30th.
7 The second circle shows the adjusted fee recovery 8
amount of $825 million after the adjustments are 9
calculated in the number. The estimated Part 170 10 fees of $205.5 million as updated to reflect 11 current workload projections are subtracted from 12 the adjustment fee recovery amount to determine the 13 remainder to be collected in Part 171 annual fees, 14 and that total is $620.2 million.
15 Below, is a breakdown of the excluded 16 activities, the amount that's in fee-relief 17 activities and the amount that result from 18 statutory activities, with a total of $156 million 19 in fee-relief and excluded activities.
20 Next slide, please. This slide 21 illustrates the annual hourly rate determination 22 which is the first step in estimating Part 170 23 fees. Three components make up the resources that 24 are used in the development of the hourly rate:
25
22 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com first, mission-direct programs salaries and 1
benefits, which are the resources used to 2
accomplish direct-mission program activities; 3
mission-indirect program support, which are the 4
indirect resources that support the agency's core 5
activities, such as supervisory and administrative 6
assistant support. Agency support is made up of 7
corporate support offices, for example financial 8
services, IT, human resources, and then finally the 9
inspector general resources. These activities add 10 up to a subtotal of $834.1 million, less any 11 offsetting receipts. After deducting offsetting 12 receipts, if any, the total budgeted resources 13 included in a professional hourly rate of $834.1 14 million is determined.
15 Total productive hours is the product of 16 multiplying the mission-direct FTEs of 1,730 by the 17 mission-direct productive hours of 1,500. The 18 mission-direct productive hours represent the 19 annual full-time equivalent work hours of 2,087, 20 less non-work hours such as leave, training, et 21 cetera, based upon the average annual usage. This 22 total is 2,595,000 direct hours.
23 The total budgetary resources included 24 in the professional hourly rate of $834 million is 25
23 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com then divided by the product of multiplying mission-1 direct FTEs by the mission-direct FTE productive 2
hours, so 1730 times 1500, which results in the 3
hourly rate for the fiscal year 2024 proposed fee 4
rule of $321 per hour. And this methodology for 5
the hourly rate is based on full-cost recovery per 6
the OMB Circular No. A-25 user charges.
7 Next slide, please. The pie charts here 8
presented in this slide illustrate a reconciliation 9
between the Congressional Budget Justification 10 requested funding compared to the allocation of the 11 budget by fee class. The percentages of the 12 appropriated resources vary between the 13 Congressional Budget Justification business lines 14 and the fee rule allocation by fee class. As shown 15 on the first pie chart, there's a business line for 16 decommissioning and low-level waste capturing three 17 percent of the $979.2 million in budgeted 18 resources. However, when allocated for the fee 19 rule, these resources are spread into multiple fee 20 classes and even fee-relief categories, as they 21 support multiple fee classes.
22 Another important distinction between 23 the charts is the corporate support and OIG 24 business line budgets that are not identified 25
24 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com within a specific fee class. Instead, those 1
resources are spread throughout fee classes and 2
fee-relief activities as agency support in 3
formulating fees. Reconciliations of the fiscal 4
year 2024 business line budgets published in the 5
CBJ to the proposed fee classes are available in 6
the fee rule work papers located on the NRC's 7
public website.
8 Next slide, please. In the next few 9
slides, I'll be reviewing the fee calculates for 10 the fee classes that are to be discussed in the 11 following presentations. This slide illustrates 12 the operating power reactors fees over the last 13 four years, including this year's proposed annual 14 fee. This chart illustrates the main components of 15 this year's proposed fees, the budgeted resources, 16 the 10 CFR Part 170 estimated billings, any 17 adjustments, annual fee resources, the licensee 18 count, and the proposed annual fee.
19 The budgeted resources allocated to the 20 operating power reactors fee class is $675.1 21 million, which is a $9.8 million increase or 22 approximately 1.5 percent higher than fiscal year 23 2023. The main contributing factor to the rise in 24 resources is to support new reactor licensing 25
25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com activities, including the review of standard design 1
approvals, pre-application activities, and 2
construction permits. In addition, there was an 3
increase in the budgeted resources due to an 4
increase in salaries and benefits. However, the 5
effect of the increase on the proposed annual fee 6
for the operating power reactors fee class is 7
offset primarily due to the proposed use of 8
$27.1 million in carryover to offset the nuclear 9
reactor safety budget as described in the fiscal 10 year 2024 budget request.
11 There was also a decrease in the budget 12 due to: one, an expected decline in topical report 13 submissions, guidance development, and process 14 improvement activities; two, a reduction in 15 construction inspection activities due to the 16 transition of the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, 17 Vogtle Unit 3, and the expected transition of 18 Vogtle Unit 4 from construction into operation; and 19 three, a reduction in rulemaking activities.
20 The fee for services, 10 CFR Part 170, 21 is the second component, and these are the services 22 for the operating and new reactors, and that 23 totaled $165.3 million, which increased by $6.4 24 million, or approximately 4 percent, from the prior 25
26 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com year. The primary reason for the increase in 1
Part 170 workload was increases in license renewals 2
and new reactor licensing activities.
3 The adjustments for Part 171 annual fees 4
rose by $1.8 million as compared with fiscal year 5
2023 resulting from the timing of invoices that 6
were issued in fiscal year 2023, but paid in fiscal 7
year 2024, which is about $2.1 million, and an 8
increase in the generic transportation surcharge of 9
about $600,000 due to an increase in the overall 10 budgeted resources for certificates of compliance 11 for the operating power reactors fee class; and 12 then, finally, low-level waste of approximately 13
$3.3 million.
14 The annual fee resources, and this 15 results in the remaining 10 CFR Part 171 annual fee 16 resources recovery amount of $515.9 million, an 17 increase of $5.2 million, or approximately 1 18 percent. That total is divided by 94 operating 19 reactors, which incorporates proposed inclusion of 20 Vogtle Unit 4 in the operating power reactors 21 fleet, resulting in an annual fee per reactor of 22
$5,488,000.
23 Next slide, please. This slide provides 24 an overview of the spent fuel storage/reactor 25
27 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com decommissioning fee class fees over the last four 1
years, including this year's proposed annual fee.
2 The budgeted resources allocated to the spent fuel 3
storage/reactor decommissioning fee class is $51 4
million, an increase of $8.1 million, or 5
approximately 19 percent higher than fiscal year 6
2023. Factors contributing to the increase 7
include: one, an increase in FTEs to support 8
licensing and oversight activities for the reactor 9
decommissioning program, which includes both power 10 and non-power reactors in various stages of 11 decommissioning; and two, an increase in the fully-12 costed FTE rate compared to fiscal year 2023 due to 13 an increase in salaries and benefits.
14 Next, the 10 CFR Part 170 estimated 15 billings for services for this fee class totaled 16
$12.2 million, which decreased by $200,000, or 17 approximately 1.6 percent, from the prior year.
18 The expected decrease in 10 CFR Part 170 workload 19 is due to: one, the completion of the safety and 20 environmental review of the Holtec HI-STORE 21 Consolidated Interim Storage Facility application; 22 two, the termination of the license for the La 23 Crosse Boiling Water Reactor; and three, a decrease 24 in decommissioning licensing and inspection 25
28 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com activities at multiple sites. This decline is 1
expected to be partially offset by the following:
2 one, a rise in hours to support the staff's review 3
of a new fuel storage system; and two, an increase 4
to support the staff's review of applications for 5
renewals, amendments, exemptions, and inspections 6
for independent spent fuel storage installations 7
and dry cask storage certificates of compliance at 8
multiple sites.
9 The adjustments for Part 170 annual fee 10 rose by $600,000, or approximately 38 percent, as 11 compared with fiscal year 2023 due to the following 12 factors: one, an increase in the generic 13 transportation surcharge due to an increase in the 14 generic transportation budgeted resources for the 15 spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning fee 16 class; and, two, an increase in the 10 CFR Part 171 17 billing adjustment to the timing of invoices that 18 were issued in fiscal year 2023 but paid in fiscal 19 year 2024. This results in the remaining 20 10 CFR Part 171 annual fee resources recovery 21 amount of $41 million, an increase of $8.9 million, 22 or approximately 27.7 percent over fiscal year 23 2023. That total is divided by 124 spent fuel 24 storage facilities, which incorporates the proposed 25
29 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com inclusion of Vogtle Unit 4 in the count, resulting 1
in an annual fee of $330,000.
2 Next slide, please. This slide 3
illustrates the fuel facilities proposed fees for 4
fiscal year 2024. The budgeted resources allocated 5
to the fuel facilities fee class are $32.4 million, 6
which is an increase of $5.8 million, or 7
approximately 21.8 percent higher than in fiscal 8
year 2023. The factors contributing to the 9
increase in the budget include: one, the review of 10 licensing actions related to enrichment and 11 manufacturing of high-assay low-enrichment uranium 12 or HALEU fuel, and accident tolerant fuel; two, the 13 review of two fuel facility license applications; 14 the development and maintenance of licensing 15 guidance; four, emergency preparedness and physical 16 security reviews for license amendments and 17 renewals; five, programmatic oversight activities 18 in support of Category II fuel facilities and an 19 anticipated new fuel facility; six, associated fuel 20 facilities rulemaking activities; and seven, an 21 increase in the fully-costed FTE rate compared to 22 fiscal year 2023 due to an increase in salaries and 23 benefits.
24 Next, the 10 CFR Part 170 estimated 25
30 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com billings for this fee class total $10.5 million, an 1
increase of $1.3 million, or approximately 14.1 2
percent, from the prior year. Some expected 3
increases include: one, the continued review of 4
the TRISO-X fuel fabrication facility application; 5
two, the review of anticipated license amendment 6
requests; and three, the review of the National 7
Institute of Standards and Technologys license 8
renewal application for possession and use of 9
special nuclear material. These increases are 10 offset by the following: one, the completion of a 11 review of Westinghouse Electric Company's license 12 transfer application; two, the near completion of 13 the review of the Global Nuclear Fuel Americas 14 amendment for an increase in enrichment activities 15 up to 8 weight percent Uranium-235; and, three, the 16 delay of the submittal of Global Nuclear Fuel 17 Americas amendment for an increase in enrichment 18 activities up to 20 weight percent Uranium-235; 19 and, four, the delay of a new fuel facility 20 application.
21 Adjustments for 10 CFR Part 171 rose by 22
$700,000, or approximately 30.4 percent, as 23 compared with fiscal year 2023 due to the following 24 factors: one, a rise in generic transportation 25
31 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com surcharge due to a new certificate of compliance 1
within the fuel facilities fee class; and two, a 2
surcharge in the 10 CFR Part 171 billing adjustment 3
due to the timing of invoices in fiscal year 2023.
4 This results in a remaining 10 CFR Part 171 annual 5
fee resources recovery of $24.9 million, an 6
increase of $5.2 million, or approximately 26.4 7
percent, over fiscal year 2023.
8 The effort factors for both safety and 9
safeguards remain unchanged for most licensees, 10 except for the safeguard effort factors for fee 11 category 2.A.(1) UF6 since the NRC authorized the 12 Centrus American Centrifuge Plant to begin its 13 HALEU demonstration program operations at the 14 Category II level on September 21, 2023.
15 This concludes my presentation, and I 16 will turn it over to Brian Smith to provide an 17 overview of operating and new reactors business 18 lines. Brian.
19 MR. SMITH: Thank you, Tony. Good 20 morning, everyone. My name is Brian Smith. I'm 21 the Director of the Division of New and Renewed 22 Licenses in NRR. I'll be providing an overview of 23 the budget for the NRC new reactor safety program, 24 which is comprised of both the operating reactors 25
32 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com and new reactors business lines.
1 The program encompasses licensing and 2
oversight of civilian nuclear power reactors, as 3
well as non-power production and utilization 4
facilities, research and test reactors for example.
5 The goal of the program is to ensure that those 6
activities are completed in a manner that protects 7
public health and safety. It also provides 8
reasonable assurance of the security of facilities 9
and protection against radiological sabotage.
10 The operating reactors and new reactors 11 business lines can be split between mission-direct, 12 mission-indirect, and excluded resources. Mission-13 direct resources account for about 75 percent of 14 the enacted budget of 1,729 FTE in fiscal year 15 2024. Mission-indirect resources account for 16 approximately 20 percent of the enacted budget and 17 support supervisors, administrative assistants, 18 program analysts, and travel needs.
19 Next slide, please. Licensing and 20 oversight are the most significant mission-direct 21 product lines. Examples of some of the activities 22 performed within those product lines are shown on 23 this slide. The NRC ensures the safety and 24 security of operating power reactors and non-power 25
33 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com production and utilization facilities within our 1
established regulatory framework. We license 2
reactors to operate, and we ensure that new and 3
existing reactor designs meet regulatory 4
requirements. We also oversee the continued safe 5
operation of those reactors through our inspection 6
program.
7 In the operating reactors business line, 8
we continue to see interest in programs that 9
provide increased operational flexibility, as well 10 as continued development of licensing 11 infrastructure and review of accident-tolerant 12 fuel. Requests for subsequent license renewal, 13 which represents an extension of a license from 60 14 to 80 years, has continued to increase, and the NRC 15 has invested significant resources in ensuring that 16 can be done safely.
17 Oversight activities are the largest 18 portion of the business line, and it was recently 19 increased with the startup of the two new Vogtle 20 units. This portion of activities includes the on-21 site resident inspectors at each power reactor, as 22 well as the safety and security inspections 23 conducted out of our four regional offices.
24 In the new reactors business line, we 25
34 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com are conducting a technical review of one standard 1
design approval application, and we expect two 2
construction permit applications to be submitted 3
later this fiscal year. We are also conducting 4
pre-application meetings with numerous light-water 5
SMR and non-light water advanced reactor 6
developers, and we're reviewing topical reports and 7
white papers associated with these future designs.
8 Next slide, please. To develop the 9
budgets for the operating reactors and new reactors 10 business lines, we first review the current 11 environment and perform workload forecasting. As 12 part of that, we look for significant drivers that 13 could impact our future workload. This includes 14 technical, regulatory, and legislative developments 15 that have the potential to either generate 16 additional work or to reduce work. That could 17 include a rulemaking or guidance change that we 18 expect to drive new submittals from licensees or 19 known plant closures that will reduce the overall 20 size of our program.
21 We then look at the historical data and 22 trends to measure how our execution in previous 23 years lines up with the budget assumptions at the 24 time. We use that data to inform the future budget 25
35 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com and identify areas where the assumptions we used 1
previously are still applicable with the future 2
work we anticipate. The historical data also allows 3
us to employ some trending for areas where the 4
workload in a given year can be highly variable in 5
terms of quantity and complexity or where we can 6
incorporate efficiencies gained based on previous 7
data.
8 We also rely heavily on communication 9
with our stakeholders to identify accurate dates 10 for planned submittals. We consider letters of 11 intent provided by licensees and applicants to the 12 NRC, we collect information from our project 13 managers, and we consider responses to our periodic 14 regulatory issue summaries on that topic. In order 15 to budget for large licensing projects, we try to 16 balance the appropriate resource needs against the 17 relative certainty that an application will be 18 submitted on schedule and when in the year the 19 application is expected, for example at the 20 beginning or end of the fiscal year.
21 We recognize that business plans within 22 the industry are subject to change and may be 23 influenced by many factors, but this is an area 24 where better certainty in the information received 25
36 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com leads to more accurate budgeting for the NRC.
1 Also, we've identified the workload 2
drivers to determine the level of effort needed in 3
each of our areas of responsibility. We develop 4
and assign resources for major projects and then 5
allocate those resources across the NRC offices to 6
align with the type of work being performed.
7 Next slide, please. One point I want to 8
make clear is that we develop our budget, and the 9
Part 170 fee estimates on different timelines. The 10 operating reactors and new reactor budgets, just 11 like our other business line budgets, are prepared 12 two years in advance. This budget includes 13 resources to be recovered through the assessment of 14 Part 170 fees, in addition to resources for all 15 other mission-direct and mission-indirect programs.
16 The budget reflects anticipated changes in the 17 Part 170 workload, such as the permanent closure of 18 power plants or new licensing applications.
19 The Part 170 fee estimates are prepared 20 at the beginning of a given fiscal year. Fact-of-21 life changes in the intervening time will drive the 22 Part 170 fee estimates lower or higher than what 23 was anticipated in the budget. Changes, such as a 24 license renewal application that was submitted 25
37 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com early, a delayed application for a design 1
certification, an early reactor closure, or a 2
canceled application for a combined operating 3
license will impact the Part 170 fee estimates and, 4
in turn, impact the Part 171 annual fee.
5 Next slide, please. In the new reactors 6
business line, the fiscal year 2024 budget includes 7
increases for anticipated reviews of construction 8
permits and standard design approval applications.
9 Licensing and construction activities at the new 10 Vogtle units were taken out of the fiscal year 2024 11 budget based on the assumption that transition 12 operations would be complete for the site. I'll 13 mention here that salaries and benefits increases, 14 while not a workload driver, were a significant 15 contribution to increases in the total budget 16 amount, as well.
17 In comparison to the fiscal year 2023 18 actual collections, fiscal year 2024 Part 170 fee 19 estimates in the new reactors business line are 20 higher due to the ongoing NuScale standard design 21 approval review and an increase in pre-application 22 activity with potential applicants. Estimated 23 Part 170 fees for construction oversight decreased 24 as Vogtle Unit 4 neared commercial operation.
25
38 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Next slide, please. In the operating 1
reactors business line, the fiscal year 2024 budget 2
increased primarily due increased salaries and 3
benefits cost. The budgeted FTE and contractor 4
support remained essentially flat and included a 5
small increase for license renewal applications and 6
reductions in licensing action infrastructure 7
development. In comparison to fiscal year 2023 8
actual collections, the fiscal year 2024 Part 170 9
fee estimates saw a small increase. This is due to 10 an increase in license renewal reviews and 11 operating reactors inspection activity.
12 Now I'll turn to the meeting over to 13 Samantha Lav, Chief of the Fuel Facility Licensing 14 Branch, Division of Fuel Management, at NMSS.
15 MS. LAV: Thank you, Brian. Good 16 morning. As Brian mentioned, my name is Samantha 17 Lav, and I'm Chief of the Fuel Facility Licensing 18 Branch at NMSS. And it's a pleasure to be here 19 this morning. Today, I'll discuss the main 20 activities in the fuel facility business line, how 21 we develop the budget, the changes in workload from 22 FY 2023, and how that impacts both Part 170 fees 23 for service and Part 171 annual fees.
24 Next slide, please. The fuel facility 25
39 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com business line conducts licensing, oversight, and 1
regulatory activities for eight major fuel 2
facilities and ten greater-than-critical-mass 3
licensees. The major activities cover licensing, 4
oversight, rulemaking, and international 5
activities. We also perform event response and 6
generic homeland security activities. In the fuel 7
facility business line, we develop and maintain 8
fuel facility licensing program; conduct safety, 9
security, and environmental reviews of license 10 applications, amendments, and renewals for fuel 11 facilities and greater-than-critical-mass 12 facilities. We also develop and maintain a fuel 13 facility oversight program, conduct inspections of 14 operating facilities, and also inspections of 15 facilities under construction. We also perform 16 rulemaking activities and associated guidance 17 development, conduct nonproliferation activities, 18 and we work with international counterparts.
19 Next slide, please. To develop the 20 facility budget which informs fees, the NRC 21 considers its workload, the type and scope of work, 22 and historical resource utilization. To gauge 23 potential licensing workload, we rely on letters of 24 intent for application engagements, routine calls 25
40 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com for licensees and applicants to both understand 1
their plans, and the external factors that could 2
impact the timing and scope of submittals. We also 3
have routine engagements with federal partners and 4
keep track of related reactor licensing actions.
5 We also consider the potential type and complexity 6
of submittals.
7 For inspections, we consider the number 8
of operating facilities and the scope and frequency 9
of routine inspections for these facilities. We 10 also consider the number and type of facilities 11 under construction and number of operational 12 readiness reviews.
13 Our resource estimates are developed 14 using budget models for different types of 15 licensing actions and inspections that are informed 16 by historical resource expenditures. We also 17 consider the confidence we have in the submittal 18 timeline and historical submittal rates.
19 Next slide, please. The primary changes 20 in the FY 2024 budget from the FY 2023 budget are 21 an increase in salaries and benefits, for the 22 review of licensing actions related to enrichment 23 and manufacturing of HALEU fuel and accident 24 tolerant fuel, the continued review of the TRISO-X 25
41 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com new fuel facility license application and the 1
review of a 10 CFR Part 70 application, the review 2
of two greater-than-critical-mass license renewal 3
applications, programmatic oversight of Category II 4
fuel facilities and an anticipated new facility, 5
the associated fuel facility rulemaking activities.
6 There were decreases for the completion of the 7
Westinghouse license transfer, the completion of 8
the GNFA amendment for an increase in enrichment 9
activities, and cost-sharing redistribution for 10 shared IT services and a decrease in funding for 11 maintenance of Network Operations Center services 12 to align with actual costs.
13 Next slide. The NRC is required by 14 NEIMA to recover, to the maximum extent 15 practicable, approximately 100 percent of the 16 annual budget authority, less the budget authority 17 for excluded activities. Broadly speaking, the NRC 18 recovers its annual budget through two types of 19 fees: service fees under 10 CFR Part 170 and 20 annual fees under 10 CFR Part 171.
21 Under NEIMA, the NRC must first collect 22 service fees for NRC work that provides specific 23 benefits to applicants and licensees, such as 24 licensing and inspection. Because these service 25
42 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com fees will not equal approximately 100 percent of 1
the agency's budget authority, the NRC must also 2
assess annual fees. Therefore, Part 170 fees are 3
inversely related to the project annual fee for fee 4
class. The more the NRC collects in Part 170 5
billings, the less it must collect in annual fees.
6 If licensing and oversight activities that were 7
included in the budget are delayed, that portion of 8
the budget will be recovered through annual fees.
9 For FY 2024, the Part 170 estimated 10 billings have increased in comparison to 2023.
11 These increases are driven by the continued review 12 of the TRISO-X new fuel facility application, 13 review of HALEU and ATF-related licensing actions, 14 routine licensing and oversight of fuel facilities 15 and greater-than-critical-mass facilities, 16 operational readiness reviews and inspection 17 activities for Category II licensee, and the review 18 of one greater-than-critical-mass license renewal 19 application.
20 The annual fees are driven by salaries 21 and benefit increases, rulemaking, licensing and 22 inspection guidance development, the delay of one 23 advanced reactor fuel-related amendment, the delay 24 of one new Part 170 application, and construction 25
43 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com inspection delays. We recognize that the delayed 1
submittals and inspection for budgeted work has 2
resulted in a large increase in annual fees for 3
fuel facilities over the past two years.
4 Addressing this issue is a focus for NRC management 5
and staff. We've been actively working to identify 6
and implement options for addressing these fact-of-7 life changes during the budget formulation process 8
and, where possible, during budget execution within 9
our appropriation constraints. Over the past year, 10 we've held three public meetings on this issue, and 11 we welcome continued discussion with our 12 stakeholders.
13 Thank you. I'll now turn it over to Jen 14 Whitman to talk about the decommissioning and the 15 low-level waste business line.
16 MS. WHITMAN: Thanks, Samantha. I'm Jen 17 Whitman, the Deputy Director of the Division of 18 Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste 19 Programs in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety 20 and Safeguards. Today, I am going to provide 21 information on the activities that drive the 22 budgetary resources needed to implement the NRC's 23 strategic goals and objectives for decommissioning 24 and low-level waste business line.
25
44 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Next slide, please. The decommissioning 1
and low-level waste business line provides 2
licensing and oversight for the decommissioning of 3
power reactors, research and test reactors, complex 4
material facilities, fuel facilities, and uranium 5
recovery facilities with the ultimate goal of 6
license determination. The business line also 7
provides licensing and oversight for uranium 8
recovery facilities. We provide support to the 9
military and non-military radium programs. We 10 perform safety and environmental reviews across all 11 of these programs.
12 We also perform and support inspection 13 activities for both headquarters and the regions.
14 We execute our responsibilities for Waste 15 Incidental to Reprocessing, or the WIR program.
16 And we support the national low-level waste 17 program.
18 Some of the major activities of the 19 business line this year are the following: We're 20 conducting licensing reviews and decommissioning 21 activities for 23 power reactors, including 16 in 22 active decommissioning. I'm proud to say that the 23 staff was able to complete both the La Crosse and 24 Zion Units 1 and 2 partial site release reviews 25
45 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com over the past year, which effectively terminates 1
the 10 CFR Part 50 license outside of the remaining 2
on-site independent spent fuel storage 3
installation.
4 We are also supporting the 5
decommissioning of two research and test reactors.
6 We continue to support the licensing and oversight 7
of eight complex material sites that are undergoing 8
decommissioning at the depleted uranium sites.
9 We're supporting the licensing and oversight of 10 three uranium recovery sites and five uranium 11 recovery decommissioning sites.
12 We also provide support to 26 13 decommissioning uranium mill disposal and 14 processing facilities that are undergoing long-term 15 care surveillance and maintenance by the Department 16 of Energy.
17 In support of the national low-level 18 waste program, we're working on the development of 19 guidance, providing support to the impact 20 evaluations in the low-level waste area, and 21 responding to unique inquiries from Agreement 22 States. Our oversight of the activities related to 23 the WIR program include monitoring activities at 24 the DOE Savannah River site and the Idaho National 25
46 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Laboratory.
1 Next slide, please. To support our 2
budget development, similar to what Brian and 3
Samantha provided before, we begin with workload 4
forecasting. We maintain continuous communications 5
with our licensees, and we use letters of intent 6
that we receive for upcoming license applications.
7 In our budget estimates, we estimate the 8
resources needed to complete those licensing 9
activities, such as the safety and environmental 10 reviews, as well as the oversight through 11 inspection activities based on where we expect the 12 particular actions to be in the licensing and 13 decommissioning process in the projected budget 14 year.
15 The cost of completing the licensing and 16 oversight reviews and activities varies, depending 17 on the level of complexity of the request, whether 18 it's for a power reactor in active decommissioning 19 that would, for example, have additional resource 20 requirements compared to a reactor in safe storage.
21 So, each one requires a different level of effort 22 and resources.
23 We also consider historical information, 24 and we are always learning from our execution data 25
47 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com for similar past efforts. We budget for hearings 1
with consideration of the number of hearings we 2
anticipate based on the licensing actions that we 3
expect, and we also consider the level of public 4
interest in those particular projects to help with 5
our estimates for resources associated with 6
hearings, as well as the past historical 7
information for resources on hearings.
8 In the budget development for FY 2022, 9
we created a new reactor decommissioning model, and 10 so this FY 2024 budget used that new model which 11 was developed to address our historical 12 expenditures on reactor decommissioning. And, 13 additionally, the changes that we're seeing in 14 decommissioning strategies move towards more active 15 decommissioning earlier.
16 Next slide, please. So, our budget 17 adjustments for FY 2024, as you heard earlier, this 18 is primarily driven by the expected work in the 19 reactor decommissioning area and an increase in the 20 fully costed FTE rate compared to FY 2023 due to an 21 increase in salaries and benefits and the revised 22 reactor budget formulation model to address the 23 change in decommissioning strategies.
24 So, the increase in work is for the 25
48 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com expected workload that was budgeted was seven 1
license termination plans that were expected to 2
come in between FY 2022, 23, and 24, and then still 3
be under review in 2024. However, licensee 4
schedules have shifted. Things have been delayed.
5 We currently in-house have five LTPs, but one was 6
the recently completed; and another, the acceptance 7
review is completed but then that was withdrawn, 8
and we expect it to come back in revised later this 9
year.
10 In addition, we are also reviewing a 11 number of unique first-of-a-kind licensing reviews, 12 such as alternative decommissioning schedules 13 leading to an increase in the related licensing and 14 oversight work for those sites. And we have also 15 been informed about accelerated decommissioning 16 schedules for four licenses.
17 So, as I said earlier, we have 23 power 18 reactors in various states of decommissioning, 19 including 16 in active decommissioning and 7 in 20 safe store. And there are final status survey 21 reviews and an increase in planned confirmation 22 survey work at multiple sites compared to FY 2023.
23 So, the decreases for the 2024 budget 24 were related to, as I mentioned earlier, the 25
49 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com several license termination activities that were 1
completed and a number of licensing activities 2
related to reactors that have transitioned to 3
decommissioning.
4 So, with that, I will turn it over to 5
Melissa Chui.
6 MS. CHUI: Thank you, Jen. Good 7
morning, everyone. My name is Melissa Chui. I'm 8
with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
9 I'll be discussing the proposed administrative 10 change to payment methods.
11 Next slide, please. Here are some 12 background information on the proposed 13 administrative change to payment methods.
14 Paperless payment methods were initiated to comply 15 with the U.S. Department of the Treasury mandate, 16 and it was incorporated in the NRC fiscal year 2024 17 proposed fee rule. The initiative offers licensees 18 and stakeholders electronic payment options only, 19 and the NRC is expected to transition from paper-20 based collections to electronic methods by 21 September 30th this year.
22 For assistance with the transitioning to 23 electronic payments, licensees and stakeholders can 24 contact us through the fees resource email address 25
50 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com or phone number listed on this slide.
1 Next slide, please. Currently, the NRC 2
accepts four electronic payment methods through 3
pay.gov listed on this slide. Step-by-step 4
instructions on making electronic payments through 5
pay.gov can be found on the NRCs public website.
6 And, furthermore, a video showcasing the initiative 7
with pay.gov payment instructions will be shown at 8
the upcoming Regulatory Information Conference that 9
will be held next week, March 12th through the 10 14th, at the Bethesda North Marriott Conference 11 Center across from NRC Headquarters in Rockville, 12 or you can view it virtually on the NRC public 13 website.
14 So, in addition to Pay.gov, for 15 international payments, licensees and stakeholders 16 can use FedWire or PayPal for making payments. By 17 the end of September this year, the NRC is expected 18 to transition from paper-based collections to 19 electronic payments.
20 Next slide, please. Lastly, for the 21 nine Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations listed on 22 this slide, their payment methods will transition 23 from paper-based collections to electronic methods 24 by September 30th this year.
25
51 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com That concludes my presentation. Thank 1
you so much for your time. I'll turn the meeting 2
back to Sophie.
3 MS. HOLIDAY: Thank you, Melissa. Thank 4
you, Marc, Tony, Brian, Samantha, and Jen for your 5
respective presentations.
6 We have allotted approximately 30 7
minutes for this question-and-answer portion of the 8
meeting. This is your opportunity to ask 9
clarifying questions of the NRC staff. Should we 10 run out of time to address any follow-up questions, 11 the NRC staff will include your questions and their 12 responses as part of the meeting summary.
13 As a reminder, the NRC is not accepting 14 any comments made at today's meeting as official 15 comments on the proposed rule. Rather, comments 16 will have to be submitted in writing to receive 17 formal consideration.
18 To ask a question, please utilize the 19 raise-hand feature on Teams. You can find this at 20 the top of your window with the hand icon. For 21 those of you who have joined us via the audio 22 bridgeline, you can dial star-5 to raise your hand.
23 Teams will automatically put you into the queue in 24 order of hand-raising. Once I have called your 25
52 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com name, I will unmute your microphone. And if you're 1
on the audio bridgeline, you may have to dial star-2 6 to unmute your microphone. Once I've unmuted 3
you, you are free to ask your question.
4 To ensure that everyone is given an 5
opportunity to ask their questions, should they 6
have any, we ask that you ask only one question at 7
a time. If there are no additional questions or 8
time permits, we will take your additional 9
questions.
10 As a kind reminder, please state your 11 name and your affiliation, if applicable, for the 12 court reporter. And if there's a particular panel 13 member that you would like to direct your question 14 to, you may also do that.
15 I do see a few hands raised, so give me 16 one moment and I will begin unmuting individuals.
17 All right. First up, I see a hand from Mr. John 18 Butler. John, you should be able to unmute your 19 microphone. Please state your name and your 20 affiliation for the court reporter. John.
21 MR. BUTLER: John Butler with NEI.
22 First off, thank you very much for this meeting.
23 It's always helpful to be able to ask people 24 questions.
25
53 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com My question is related to the use of 1
carryover. Can someone give a little bit of a 2
rationale of how the amount was determined for the 3
2024 budget and the allocation, how that was 4
determined? Right now, I think it's all going to 5
the reactor safety budget and, as a result, the 6
increase in the Part 171 fees for that fee class 7
are marginally, they're relatively small. By 8
contrast, the fee increase for fuel facilities and 9
decommissioning are significant in the 2024 budget 10 and could have benefitted from some of the use of 11 the oversight. So, I'd like a little bit more 12 information on how that was determined in the 2024 13 budget. Thank you.
14 MS. JACOBS: Just one moment, John.
15 John, this is Jo Jacobs. Do you mind repeating 16 your question?
17 MR. BUTLER: I'm just looking for a 18 little bit of information of how the use of 19 carryover in the 2024 budget, the $27.1 million, 20 was determined both in the magnitude of carryover 21 that was utilized, since 27.1 is only a portion of 22 the approximately $100 million in carry over, and 23 how the distribution of that carryover was 24 determined. Currently, it's all going to the 25
54 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com reactor safety budget versus other budgets. So, 1
I'm looking for the rationale for the magnitude in 2
distribution.
3 MR. ROSSI: Hi, John. Thank you for the 4
question. The decision for the carryover offset of 5
$27.1 million to the reactor safety control point 6
was based on our forecasts at the time the budget 7
was formulated for our carryover estimates for 8
reactor safety available during that time during 9
the budget formulation process. And that was our 10 best estimate at the time, and that was what was 11 included in the budget request.
12 Does that answer your question? The 13 details of what that estimate was, I mean, we'll 14 have to get back to you on that if that's what 15 you're looking for, but that was our best estimate.
16 During the year, you know, we continue to monitor 17 what we think is going to be carryover for the 18 year. And, of course, as you know, the budget is 19 formulated a year and a half or two years in 20 advance of the execution year, so that is our best 21 estimate based on activity at that point, at the 22 point of budget formulation.
23 MS. GOLDER: John, this is Jennifer 24 Golder.
25
55 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com MR. BUTLER: Yes.
1 MS. GOLDER: Hi. The decision to apply 2
a carryover offset of $27.1 million to the reactor 3
safety control point was based on the forecast of 4
fee-based carryover estimates for reactor safety 5
that was available during budget formulation.
6 MR. BUTLER: All right. I understand.
7 And just as a suggestion, perhaps in future 8
budgets, perhaps it's too late for the 2025 budget, 9
but providing yourself with a little bit more 10 latitude on how that carryover can be distributed 11 might be advisable to minimize the surprises that 12 the different fee classes see during the budget.
13 MS. GOLDER: Thank you. Thank you for 14 the feedback.
15 MS. HOLIDAY: Christine, did you want to 16 respond before I go to the next person?
17 MS. GALSTER: Yes. Hi, John. This is 18 Christine Galster, OCFO Fee Policy. Thank you for 19 joining us again.
20 I just wanted to add to that that this 21 was the first year that we incorporated utilizing 22 carryover within the CBJ budget. Normally, we have 23 to wait, and normally have waited, until we receive 24 the appropriation to actually incorporate any 25
56 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com carryover in our fee calculations for the proposed 1
fee rule. So, this was actually the first time, so 2
I just wanted to bring that up.
3 MR. BUTLER: Oh, I recognize that, and I 4
applaud your doing so. Thank you very much.
5 MS. HOLIDAY: Thank you so much for your 6
question, John. And thank you, Christine, Tony, 7
and Jennifer for coming on to respond.
8 Okay. With that, we're going to move on 9
to the next person. Hilary, I see that your hand 10 is raised. You should be able to unmute your 11 microphone.
12 MS. LANE: Okay. Great. Thanks, 13 Sophie. This is Hilary Lane with NEI, as well. My 14 question is related to the research and test 15 reactor fees, the NPUF fees, or non-power. There's 16 a lot of nomenclature there. We understand that 17 for FY 2025, so for next year, the number of fee-18 paying licensees in that class may be moving down 19 from three to two. So, we wanted to see if the 20 staff is considering that, you know, significant 21 reduction now and working towards any mitigative 22 solutions so that we don't see, you know, a 23 disproportionate impact to the two remaining 24 licensees that are going to be carrying that fee 25
57 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com base for that fee next year. Thanks.
1 MR. ROSSI: Hi. We are aware that the 2
number of licensees are going to decrease in the 3
NPUF fee class, and we are considering that in our 4
budgeting and fee calculation.
5 MR. SMITH: Hi, Hilary. This is Brian 6
Smith. So, the fiscal year 2025 budget is somewhat 7
out of our hands at the moment, but we do recognize 8
that there is a decrease. I think that we weren't 9
aware of that potential change at the time we were 10 developing the budget, and so we'll see what we can 11 do. We try to adjust things from year to year for 12 this fee class to try to minimize the potential 13 swings in the annual fee amounts.
14 MS. HOLIDAY: Thank you, Brian. Thank 15 you, Tony. Okay. I see only one other hand 16 raised, so I don't see any other hands, so, John, 17 we'll go back to you. You should be able to unmute 18 your microphone.
19 MR. BUTLER: Great. Thank you.
20 Hopefully, this is an easy question to answer or a 21 quick response. How much in the 2024 budget is 22 being used to subsidize the rent in Three White 23 Flint for FDA and NIA -- or NIH?
24 MS. JACOBS: Hi, John. This is Jo 25
58 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com Butler. We can try to get that information for 1
you.
2 MS. GOLDER: John, this is Jennifer 3
Golder. Hi again. I think it's around $6 million.
4 We would have to definitely get back. I want to 5
make sure we have the right amount before we 6
respond, but that's approximate.
7 MR. BUTLER: All right. And do you know 8
offhand when that subsidy will end as a matter of 9
course of completing, you know, I don't know, 10 obligations there?
11 MS. GOLDER: I believe it ends in 2027.
12 MR. BUTLER: Okay.
13 MS. GOLDER: And we will confirm that.
14 MR. BUTLER: All right. Thank you.
15 16 MS. HOLIDAY: Thank you so much. Okay.
17 The next hand that I see raised is Janet Schlueter.
18 One moment, please, Janet. Okay. Janet, you 19 should be able to unmute your microphone.
20 MS. SCHLUETER: Yes. Thank you. Janet 21 Schlueter, NEI. And I wanted to direct my question 22 to Samantha on the fuel cycle facility business 23 line.
24 So, basically, as you know, we have been 25
59 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com receiving some annual budget discussions during 1
public meetings, our fuel cycle stakeholders 2
meeting, spring and fall, for the last few years, 3
and those have been very informative. We saw an 4
increase in FY 2023 of, as you noted, almost 19 5
percent, and so we've had a lot of conversations 6
about NRC's planning assumptions, how industry can 7
do its best to inform those, where the milestones 8
are for you, when you can make changes, when you 9
can't. Those have all been very helpful.
10 We've written several letters, one last 11 July, when we realized that the FY 2024 CBJ was 12 high because of the delayed license amendment you 13 mentioned. So, we started to engage. We had 14 public meetings November, December. We've written 15 three letters, I think, all trying to better 16 understand what NRC's process is and planning 17 assumptions when you prepared the 2024 CBJ but, 18 knowing last summer that it was too high, where NRC 19 did or did not have ability to adjust when it comes 20 to the FY 2024 fee rule.
21 Now, I know it's based on the CBJ, and 22 so you had to put out what you put out. But we are 23 continuing to engage with you, and we have 24 appreciated those opportunities, but I think we're 25
60 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com finding ourselves at a point now where we don't 1
know exactly what adjustments NRC may or may not be 2
making at this time as it prepares the final fee 3
rule, so we're concerned it's going to be just as 4
high, too high, for your program. And so, we're 5
interested in knowing, you know, what information 6
or is there information that you need from industry 7
now in the comment period to inform the final fee 8
rule.
9 Everybody is doing their best to predict 10 major license amendments, applications, and so 11 forth and so on. But unlike the other business 12 lines across the NRC, except I'll leave out the 13 spent fuel, which is also seeing a really high, you 14 know, increase for 2024, other business lines don't 15 seem to experience these large swings in the 16 budget. It's a small community, as you mentioned, 17 eight fuel facilities. So, any perturbation in 18 that system has this major ripple effect across.
19 And as you pointed out, if you don't 20 collect your billable hours, it rolls over into 21 annual fee. But we're at a time, in this industry 22 in particular, where we're trying to grow, we're 23 trying to expand, we're trying to meet increased 24 energy demand domestically, globally. The 25
61 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com administration supports that. They're also trying 1
to help this industry, but it's very difficult to 2
do that when you have an unpredictable NRC fee 3
structure. It doesn't matter the actual dollar 4
amount. It's the percentage that we're 5
experiencing and the unpredictable nature of that.
6 Hard to plan.
7 This year, that increased cost cannot be 8
passed on, contracts are in place. They have to 9
eat it within their operating budgets. So, what 10 can we give you, what type of information can we 11 give you in the comment period that will help 12 inform the final fee rule so we can get this 13 percentage down to a more appropriate level? Thank 14 you.
15 MS. LAV: Thank you for that comment, 16 Janet. I really appreciate that, and I really 17 appreciate the discussions that we've had with the 18 industry at the semi-annual stakeholder meetings 19 and at our January 11th meeting on this issue. You 20 know, we recognize that, you know, this large of an 21 increase two years in a row is hard on licensees.
22 Like, we hear you, and that's not falling on deaf 23 ears. The information that we got about the major 24 delays for, you know, two major applications, as 25
62 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com well as the construction inspection delays, when we 1
got those in January and in November, that was 2
really after when we had the ability to make 3
changes in 2024 budget formulation, so the CBJ was 4
already set at that point.
5 So now our options are really looking at 6
what can we do within execution, and those are 7
limited. But we are challenging ourselves, you 8
know, what can we do, how can we focus on that, 9
what are our options.
10 And so, what you see in the proposed fee 11 rule, you know, that's based on our CBJ. We don't 12 have an appropriation yet, so any changes that we 13 are able to implement, you know, that's not 14 reflected here.
15 Also, you know, with respect to the 16 magnitude of the swing in this business line, you 17 know, you mentioned it yourself: this is a very 18 small business line. You have 8 licensees who are 19 really paying annual fees, so any change, even if 20 it's a couple of FTE, that really has a very big 21 impact when it's, you know, spread out over 8 22 licensees in this fee category versus 94 licensees 23 in the operating reactor category. So, we're aware 24 of that. We are looking for or we did look in 25
63 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com 2025, you know, could we make any changes during 1
formulation.
2 As far as what licensees can do, I don't 3
think it's necessarily with respect to comments on 4
the fee rule, but, you know, these estimates for 5
170 billings, this is based on what our estimates 6
were in the beginning of the year. If there any 7
changes that you're aware of, of things that are 8
going to come in that we haven't anticipated, you 9
know, we can account for that in the final fee rule 10 of what those 170 estimates are. So, if there are 11 things that are coming in that we hadn't accounted 12 for, that would increase the 170 billings and that 13 would decrease the annual fees also. So, you know, 14 our project managers have been talking to the 15 licensees to get the information, and that will be 16 reflected in the final fee rule, as well.
17 MS. SCHLUETER: One more quick question, 18 I guess, since I have you, and then I'll stop. I 19 think it was slide 27, but the rulemaking item, 20 what rulemakings are covered by that? Because, you 21 know, being very active in the Part 40 and Part 70 22 world that might impact that community, give me an 23 example of what is budgeted for rulemaking. Which 24 one --
25
64 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com MS. LAV: Yes. The two rules that were 1
budgeted were the Enhanced Weapons rule that was 2
implemented this year and then the Cyber Security 3
rulemaking. That was limited resources towards 4
that, but that was in there, as well.
5 MS. SCHLUETER: Thank you.
6 MS. HOLIDAY: Thank you. And thank you 7
for your questions, Janet. Thank you, Samantha.
8 Okay. The next hand that I see up is Mike 9
Callahan, so, Mike, you should be able to unmute 10 your microphone. Mike, if you can hear us, you can 11 unmute your microphone and proceed with asking your 12 question. I'm so sorry, Mike. We can't hear you.
13 You may have to touch the microphone icon on your 14 Teams --
15 MR. CALLAHAN: I think I got it.
16 MS. HOLIDAY: Oh, we can hear you.
17 Perfect. Thank you so much. Go ahead with your 18 question.
19 MR. CALLAHAN: Thank you very much. If 20 you could -- and thank you, Sophie. Appreciate it.
21 If you can move to slide 15 for a moment, and I'll 22 explain that I'm calling on behalf of the 23 Decommissioning Plant Coalition. And I think 24 Samantha said it best when she said you're so 25
65 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com limited by the process that is levied upon you that 1
you have limited room to work from year to year.
2 I just want to ask you to take a short 3
look at the bottom line of the annual fee per 4
facility not just from year to year but over the 5
past five years, and that's a 1.75 percent 6
increase. My question is are there any 7
expectations internally at the NRC that you or 8
others have to take a step back every so often and 9
look at such trends and try to develop 10 recommendations for the Commission, for the CFO to 11 take to Commission, for the CFO and the Commission 12 to take to OMB, to try to reverse some of these 13 trends that are really coming down on the ISFSI and 14 the decommissioning plants.
15 Now, I know that everyone expects them 16 to get fee recovery from DOE for their ISFSI fuel 17 storage, et cetera. And the decommissioning plants 18 have decommissioning trust funds that they can draw 19 upon. But as time goes on and five years from now, 20 when you're at a half million dollars and ten years 21 from now when you may be at a million dollars for 22 this class, not all of that, you have to realize 23 that not all of that recovery, it's not 100-percent 24 recovery.
25
66 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com So, again, my question is do you all 1
have internal mechanisms available to the process 2
that go beyond the year-to-year mechanics of 3
putting together a fee rule? Do you ever have the 4
charge to step back and take a look at the trends?
5 Thanks.
6 MS. GOLDER: Hi. Thank you so much for 7
the question. This is Jennifer Golder, the acting 8
CFO. We do look at trends each year. We are 9
constrained regarding how we calculate fees based 10 on NEIMA and the rules or the legislation. But we 11 do look at trends, and I do thank you for your 12 comment.
13 MR. CALLAHAN: Okay. Just to follow up, 14 is there anything that causes, is there any 15 mechanism that would cause you to make 16 recommendations for adjustments to NEIMA or 17 anything else over the longer term? And I 18 appreciate your response; I really do. But that's 19 the heart of the question: is there a mechanism for 20 you all to make recommendations up your chain to 21 make adjustments to that limit, to those 22 limitations you're under?
23 MS. GOLDER: Thanks, thanks so much. I 24 don't believe so. I would have to look internally 25
67 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com and discuss that. And thank you for that question.
1 I'm not aware of any internal mechanisms, though.
2 MR. CALLAHAN: Okay. Thank you.
3 Appreciate it.
4 MS. HOLIDAY: Thank you for your 5
question, Mike. Okay. I see, John, you have your 6
hand raised again, so we will go back to you.
7 MR. BUTLER: Thanks. This is just to 8
kind of, for my learning. If you can go to slide 9
31, I think, would be a good example. I'm trying 10 to understand what the real meaning of the, you 11 said the negatives are. Are these changes from the 12 2023 budget? Are these changes from what was 13 planned for the 2024 budget but didn't come to 14 pass? So just for my learning, you know, what is 15 the negative mean?
16 MS. WHITMAN: Yes. So, these are from 17 the 2023 to 2024 budget.
18 MR. BUTLER: So, the delta between the 19 2023 budget and the 2024 budget?
20 MS. WHITMAN: Yes.
21 MR. BUTLER: In the future, it might be 22 a little bit more informative when we're talking 23 about especially impacts on annual fees to have a 24 little bit more information on the fact-of-life 25
68 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com changes that are resulting in increases in annual 1
fees. That may be a separate slide or a separate 2
portion of the work papers, but having a little bit 3
more information on those fact-of-life changes that 4
you've mentioned that are coming into play to 5
increase the annual fees would be very helpful.
6 MS. WHITMAN: Thank you for that. I'll 7
consider that the next time we put these slides 8
together. I do think it's partially covered, well, 9
it was partially covered in the talking points that 10 Tony gave during his presentation. I think on 11 slide 15 he covered a lot of that.
12 MS. HOLIDAY: Thanks, Jen. And thank 13 you, John. Okay. I actually don't see any more 14 hands raised, so, again, if you have a question or 15 a comment, you can use the raise-hand feature, the 16 hand icon at the top of your screen, or if you 17 joined us on the phone, you can dial star-5 and 18 that will put you in the queue.
19 Oh, John, I see that your hand is raised 20 once again. Let me go back to you. Okay. John, 21 you should be able to unmute your microphone.
22 MR. BUTLER: Hi. This is one of the 23 lower-level questions, but, since nobody was 24 raising a hand, I thought I would go ahead and ask 25
69 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com it. In last year's budget and, to a great degree, 1
this year's budget, there's a lot of funding for IT 2
infrastructure. Can you tell me whether this is 3
something that we can see go away in general in 4
future years, or is this going to be kind of a 5
continuing portion of the budget? Hopefully, the 6
question was clear.
7 MS. GOLDER: Yes. I'm sorry. I lost my 8
screen. This is Jennifer Golder. Well, IT 9
infrastructure is part of our infrastructure. You 10 know, I could only speak to the 2024 budget. The 11 2025 budget has not been released by or has not 12 been enacted or released to the Congress yet.
13 Excuse me. We do expect that soon. And IT 14 infrastructure is a part of our general 15 infrastructure.
16 MR. BUTLER: What I was trying to 17 understand is this something where you're making 18 major changes that, once done, would be in place 19 and the charges would decrease or is this something 20 that's done every year covering changes that are 21 necessary year to year? I know I'm not explaining 22 it very well, but I'm trying to think if this is 23 kind of a one-and-done changes or ongoing changes.
24 MR. BLANEY: John, this is Billy Blaney.
25
70 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com There's also a lot of executive orders on cyber 1
that have come out that have IT requirements behind 2
them, so we're going to have to continue meeting 3
those executive orders in order to make sure that 4
we're keeping up with what we're supposed to be 5
doing.
6 MR. BUTLER: I guess what I'm trying to 7
get at, I noticed in some business lines, there was 8
a significant decrease in the IT infrastructure 9
from 2023 to 2024, and, at the same time, there was 10 a large increase in IT infrastructure from 2023 to 11 2024 for other business lines. So, I'm just trying 12 to understand if this is something that, once 13 you're complete in a particular business line or 14 area, that the IT infrastructure costs will go 15 down.
16 MS. GOLDER: John, we'll have to take 17 that question back and look into that more to make 18 sure we understand it.
19 MR. BUTLER: Thank you.
20 MS. GOLDER: Thank you.
21 MS. HOLIDAY: Okay. Are there any other 22 questions? Maybe we can wait just another minute 23 or two before I go over and talk about how you can 24 submit comments. So, if there's anybody else that 25
71 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com has a question or comment that you'd like to pose 1
to the NRC staff, please use the raise-hand feature 2
on Microsoft Teams or dial star-5 on your 3
telephone.
4 Okay. Jo, I'm not seeing any hands, so 5
if you'd like to move to the next slide. Since I 6
don't see any more questions, we'll say that this 7
concludes our question-and-answer portion of the 8
meeting. I appreciate everyone's attention and 9
your questions and your comments.
10 So, as previously stated, the deadline 11 for submitting comments on the fiscal year 2024 12 proposed fee rule is March 21st, 2024. There are 13 five methods by which you may submit your comments.
14 However, the NRC highly encourages the first 15 method, which is the electronic comment submission 16 through the federal rulemaking website 17 www.regulations.gov, it's the very first box you 18 see on the slide, using Docket ID NRC-2022-0046.
19 You can also e-mail your comments to 20 rulemaking.comments@nrc.gov, also reference the 21 same docket ID number as part of your email 22 submission.
23 You will receive an automatic e-mail 24 confirmation receipt. If you don't receive that, 25
72 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com you can feel free to contact us at 301-415-1677.
1 You can also fax your comments addressed to the 2
Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 3
using the same docket ID number, and the fax number 4
is 301-415-1101.
5 Next slide, please. The fourth method 6
is that you can mail your comments in addressed to 7
the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 8
at the address listed on the slide, or you can come 9
hand-deliver your comments to us at our NRC 10 Headquarters location located at 11555 Rockville 11 Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
12 If you need any further information, 13 please contact Anthony, or Tony, Rossi via e-mail 14 at Anthony, A-N-T-H-O-N-Y, dot Rossi, R-O-S-S-I, at 15 NRC.gov or by telephone at 301-415-7341.
16 Lastly, I would appreciate it if you 17 took the time to fill out our public meeting 18 feedback form. You can find this link in the 19 public meeting schedule page located for this 20 particular meeting. Your opinion on how this 21 meeting went will help us improve upon future 22 meetings, so, please, if you would, take a moment 23 to let us know what you think.
24 Again, thank you so much for your time 25
73 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com and your attention and engagement during this 1
meeting. Without further ado, I would like to turn 2
the meeting back over to Jennifer Golder for our 3
closing remarks.
4 Jennifer.
5 MS. GOLDER: So, thank you, Sophie, for 6
facilitating the meeting. Thank you to all the 7
presenters that are here in the room with me today.
8 I greatly appreciate your time and efforts in 9
making this happen. And thank you to all of our 10 stakeholders and all of the people who have 11 participated and asked us questions. We greatly 12 appreciate it. And please submit your questions 13 formally and have a great day. Thank you.
14 Oh, yes, thank you. Sophie, did I miss 15 a slide? Did you want me to mention the acronyms?
16 MS. HOLIDAY: No, it's not necessary. I 17 covered that in the beginning. But, again, as 18 Jennifer just alluded to, the very last slide 19 contains all of our acronyms. We are an agency of 20 acronyms, so feel free to reference that slide if 21 you'd like some clarification.
22 And with that, I will end the meeting 23 for everyone. Thank you so much.
24 (Whereupon, the above-entitled matter 25
74 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1716 14TH ST., N.W., STE 200 (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-4309 www.nealrgross.com went off the record at 11:44 a.m.)
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