NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200

 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

 Web Site: www.nrc.gov

No. 02-032 March 22, 2002

NRC AMENDS LICENSING, INSPECTION AND ANNUAL FEES RULE

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is amending its regulations for the licensing, inspection

and annual fees it charges to applicants and licensees for fiscal year (FY) 2002.

The agency is required to collect nearly all of its annual appropriated budget through two types

of fees. One type is for NRC services such as licensing and inspection activities. The other is an annual

fee paid by all licensees, which recovers generic regulatory expenses and other costs not recovered

through fees for specific services. These fees are contained in Commission regulations 10 CFR Part

170 (licensing and inspection services) and 10 CFR Part 171 (annual fees). 

By law, the NRC must recover $479.5 million, or about 96 percent of its budget, for FY 2002

(October 1, 2001 - September 30, 2002). This does not include $23.7 million appropriated from the

Nuclear Waste Fund for high-level waste activities. Neither does it include $36 million appropriated for

NRCís activities related to homeland security. Funding for these activities is excluded from license fee

revenues by law. The total amount to be recovered is about $26.2 million more than last year. 

There is a $6 increase over FY 2001 in the hourly labor rate proposed for NRC services

performed in the reactor program, and an $8 increase for services performed in the nuclear materials

program. The proposed hourly rates are $156 for the reactor program activities and $152 for the nuclear

material program activities.

The annual fees proposed by the NRC have been determined under the ìre-baseliningî method. 

The Commission decided to re-baseline annual fees this year based on the changes in the magnitude of

the budget to be recovered through fees. Re-baselined annual fees would result in increased annual

fees for a majority of licensees, including power reactors, fuel facility licensees, and radiography and

broad-scope medical licensees. Annual fees would decrease for other categories of licensees, including

non-power research reactors. 
The proposed FY 2002 annual fees for some licensees are as follows:

Categories of Licensees FY 2001 Annual Fee FY 2002 Annual Fee

Operating Power Reactors $2,753,000 $2,869,000

(including spent fuel storage/

reactor decommissioning annual fee) 

High-enriched Uranium Fuel Facility $3,545,000 $4,073,000

Low-enriched Uranium Fuel Facility $1,146,000 $1,366,000

Uranium Recovery (Conventional Mills) 94,300 77,700

Radiographers 12,500 13,700

Broad Scope Medical 24,200 26,200

Distribution of Radiopharmaceuticals 3,900 4,500

The NRC is also proposing to clarify the Part 170 fee waiver provision for topical reports and

certain other documents submitted to the NRC for review and approval; to clarify that a Part 171 annual

fee exemption provision for reactors applies only to reactors licensed to operate; and to revise Part 171

to specifically authorize the assessment of annual fees to holders of Part 52 combined licenses after the

Commission has authorized operation of the reactors.

Written comments on the proposed amendments to 10 CFR Parts 170 and 171 of the

Commissionís regulations should be received within 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. 

They should be addressed to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C.,

20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications staff. Comments also may be faxed to 301-415-

1101, or submitted via the NRCís electronic rulemaking Web site, at http://www.nrc.gov . Select

ìrulemakingî from the tool bar and then ìrulemaking forum.î

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