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. 02-059 May 20, 2002

 NRC PROPOSES TO REMOVE SOME FINANCIAL INFORMATION

REQUIREMENTS FOR REACTOR LICENSE RENEWAL

 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend its regulations to remove the

requirement that power reactor licensees that are not electric utilities submit financial information in

their license renewal applications. The NRC believes that its financial review processes conducted

during initial licensing, license transfers or, as proposed in this rule, the transition from electric utility to

non-electric-utility status, provide a sufficiently comprehensive framework to assess financial

qualifications. The agency does not believe that the license renewal process is sufficiently unique to

warrant a separate financial review.

Non-power reactor licensees are not affected by the proposed rule change and will continue to

be required to submit financial qualifications information when applying for a license renewal. 

 Currently, NRC regulations do not require electric-utility applicants for initial operating

licensees and the renewal of those licenses to submit financial qualifications information. The NRC

removed this requirement in 1984, based on the premise that the ratemaking process ensures that an

electric utility applying for a nuclear power plant license has the funds needed to operate the facility

safely. However, non-electric-utilities, which do not participate in the ratemaking process, are required

to submit information on financial qualifications to the NRC for an initial operating license, during

license transfer and at the license renewal stage. 

The Commission believes that current regulatory processes adequately ensure that non-electricutilities are financially qualified before and after receiving a renewed license and that the NRC can

detect any deterioration in a licensee’s financial condition before it impacts public health and safety. 

Under these processes, applicants other than electric utilities are required to submit projections of

revenues and expenses for the reactor being licensed for the first five years of operation, or transfer of a

license. The NRC evaluation of the financial qualifications of an entity other than an electric utility

applicant is based on the submitted five-year projections of income and expenses and on current

information from financial rating service publications such as Moody’s and Value Line. 
In addition, the NRC proposes to create a Section 50.76, a requirement segregated from

paragraph 50.33(f)(2), to its regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which would

require licensees that are transitioning from an electric utility to a non-electric-utility without going

through license transfers to submit sufficient financial information to allow the NRC to determine

whether the licensee remains financially qualified to conduct the activities authorized by the license. 

The comment period for the proposed rule expires 75 days after publication of a Federal

Register notice on this subject, expected shortly. Comments after then will be considered if practical to

do so, but the Commission can only ensure consideration of comments received on or before this date.

Comments may be mailed to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,

D.C. 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. They may be delivered to 11555

Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on federal workdays. They can

also be submitted via the NRC’s rulemaking web site, at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov . 

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