Press Release-19-024, NRC Amends Licensing, Inspection, Annual Fees for Fy 2019

Press Release-19-024: NRC Amends Licensing, Inspection, Annual Fees for Fy 2019

ML19137A059
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Issue date:	05/17/2019
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Press Release-19-024
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No: 19-024 May 17, 2019 CONTACT: David McIntyre, 301-415-8200 NRC Amends Licensing, Inspection, Annual Fees for FY 2019 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has amended its regulations to reflect the licensing, inspection, special project, and annual fees it will charge applicants and licensees for fiscal year 2019.

The final fee rule, published today in the Federal Register, includes fees required by law for the NRC to recover approximately 90 percent of the agencys annual budget authority. A proposed rule was published Jan. 31 for public comment.

For FY 2019, the NRCs required fee recovery amount, after accounting for fee-recovery exclusions, fee-relief activities, and net billing adjustments, is $782.5 million. Approximately

$252.1 million will be recovered through fees for service under Part 170 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and approximately $530.5 million will be recovered through annual fees under 10 CFR Part 171.

Compared to FY 2018, the FY 2019 annual fees will increase for operating reactors, research and test reactors, and some materials users. Annual fees will decrease for spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning, fuel facilities, select materials users, the Department of Energy transportation activities, and the DOE Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act Program. The annual fee for the non-DOE uranium recovery licensee remains unchanged.

The final fee rule also includes several other changes affecting licensees and applicants.

First, the NRC has increased the hourly rate from $275 in FY 2018 to $278 for FY 2019. Second, the NRC has revised the flat rate license application fees under 10 CFR 170.21 and 170.31 to reflect the new hourly rate. Finally, the final fee rule includes two fee-policy changes and one administrative change.

The NRC estimates that the FY 2019 annual fees will be paid by the licensees of 98 operating commercial power reactors, four research and test reactors, 122 spent nuclear fuel storage and decommissioning reactor facilities, seven fuel cycle facilities, one uranium recovery facility, and approximately 2,600 nuclear materials licensees.