NRC ISSUES FINAL LICENSING, INSPECTION AND 

ANNUAL FEES RULE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009 

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is amending its regulations to reflect the licensing, 

inspection and annual fees it will charge its applicants and licensees for fiscal year (FY) 

2009. 

 The agency is required by Congress to recover for the U.S. Treasury most of its annual 

appropriated budget through two types of fees. One is for specific NRC services, such as 

licensing and inspection activities. This fee is calculated using the current hourly rate multiplied 

by the time spent by staff performing a service. The other is an annual fee paid by licensees, 

which recovers generic regulatory expenses and other costs not recovered through fees for 

specific services. These fees are contained in NRC regulations 10 CFR Part 170 (fees for licensespecific services) and 10 CFR Part 171 (annual fees). These fees are paid to the NRC and 

transferred to the U.S. Treasury’s general fund. 

 

 By law, the NRC must recover, through fees to applicants and licensees, 90 percent of its 

budget authority for FY 2009 (Oct. 1, 2008 - Sept. 30, 2009), less the amounts appropriated from 

the Nuclear Waste Fund for high-level radioactive waste activities and from general funds for 

waste-incidental-to-reprocessing and generic homeland security activities. The total amount of 

fees to be recovered by Sept. 30 is approximately $870.6 million, about $91.5 million more than 

in FY 2008. 

 

 The FY 2009 fee rule, published today in the Federal Register, includes fees based upon 

the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. Approximately one third of the fees will be billed for 

specific services (Part 170) and the remaining two thirds will be billed to annual fees (Part 171). 

The hourly rate for Part 170 activities increases about 8 percent from $238 to $257 per hour. The 

increase in FY 2009 fees is due primarily to an increase in reactor license renewals and new 

uranium enrichment and recovery licensing activities. The NRC decreased fees for small entities 

in FY 2009. 

 The NRC is continuing its efforts to keep its fees as low as possible by ensuring its 

programs are conducted efficiently and effectively and requesting from Congress only the 

resources necessary to perform its mission of protecting people and the environment. 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 09-108 June 10, 2009
 The FY 2009 annual fees are categorized by types of licensees/applicants and include the 

following: 

Class/Category FY 2009 Annual Fee

Operating Power Reactors (including Spent Fuel Storage/ 

Reactor Decommissioning annual fee) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,625,000 

Spent Fuel Storage/Reactor Decommissioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $122,000 

Test and Research Reactors (Non-power Reactors) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $87,600 

High-Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,691,000 

Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel Facility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,649,000 

UF6 Conversion Facility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $969,000 

Conventional Mills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $31,200 

 

Typical Materials Users:

Radiographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $22,700 

Well Loggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $9,700 

Industrial Gauges (Category 1C) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,700

Broad Scope Medical (Category 7B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $36,300 

 

 NRC estimates that the FY 2009 annual fees will be paid by 104 nuclear power plant 

licensees, 4 non-power reactors, 19 spent fuel storage/reactor-in-decommissioning facilities, 11 

fuel cycle facilities, 7 uranium recovery facilities and approximately 3,800 material licensees. 

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