December 29, 2015 

The Honorable Bernard Sanders 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Senator Sanders: 

 On behalf of the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to the 

December 7, 2015, letter from you and your colleagues requesting additional public meetings 

and an extension of the comment period for the agency’s Advance Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (ANPR) regarding the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. You also asked 

that we refrain from issuing to licensees undergoing decommissioning any exemptions from 

current regulations until new regulations are in place. 

 With regard to your request for additional public meetings, the NRC appreciates and 

shares the desire for public engagement. In fact, the NRC issued the ANPR in order to engage 

formally with the public at a very early stage in the rulemaking process. While the ANPR is not 

a mandated step in the rulemaking process, the NRC determined that formal comments 

received on the ANPR would inform subsequent phases of the rulemaking process (i.e., 

regulatory basis development, proposed rule development, and final rule development). These 

subsequent phases will offer public comment periods and public meetings. 

 Given the extensive plans for future public outreach, coupled with the fact that the ANPR 

was issued for preliminary input, the NRC does not plan to conduct regional public meetings at 

this point in the process. However, a public meeting was held at NRC headquarters in 

Rockville, MD, to discuss the ANPR on December 9, 2015. The NRC offered a teleconference 

and webinar opportunity for those who wished to participate remotely. Approximately 105 

stakeholders participated in the meeting in person, by webinar, or by teleconference. As the 

NRC continues the rulemaking process over the next few years, the agency will consider 

conducting regional public meetings. 

 Your letter also requested that the NRC extend the deadline for public comments on the 

ANPR to February 4, 2016. The agency has received multiple requests to extend the comment 

period. The NRC has extended the comment period for an additional 75 days to March 18, 

2016. An extension notice was published in the Federal Register on December 28, 2015 (80 

FR 80709). 

 Finally, you requested that the NRC not grant decommissioning facilities exemptions 

from existing regulatory requirements until we have completed the current rulemaking. The 

NRC has issued requested exemptions to decommissioning licensees from certain regulatory 

requirements, which generally apply to an operating reactor, to reflect the reduced risks of 

permanently shut down and defueled reactors as compared to operating reactors. Exemptions 

are part of a well-established NRC process to modify emergency plans, security plans, and 

other programs commensurate with the site-specific risks that are present during 

decommissioning. 
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A licensee cannot be relieved from NRC requirements unless it provides a detailed 

technical application to the NRC to support the request and the NRC conducts a review to 

evaluate whether the requested exemption should be granted. In order to grant such requests, 

the NRC must find, among other requirements, that the action requested will not present an 

undue risk to, or will not endanger, the public health and safety, and is consistent with the 

common defense and security. Similarly, when considering a request to use decommissioning 

trust funds for purposes other than radiological decommissioning (e.g., spent fuel management), 

the NRC must determine that sufficient funds are (or will be) available for the radiological 

decommissioning activities required by NRC regulations. If there is reasonable assurance that 

additional funds are available beyond what is necessary to support radiological 

decommissioning, then the Commission may grant an exemption. We continue to believe that 

appropriate use of exemptions is an essential part of our regulatory program. 

 I appreciate your input on this important matter. If you need additional information, 

please contact me or Eugene Dacus, Director of the Office of Congressional Affairs, at (301) 

415-1776. 

Sincerely, 

/RA/ 

 Stephen G. Burns 
Identical letter sent to: 

The Honorable Bernard Sanders 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Edward J. Markey 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Patrick Leahy 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Elizabeth Warren 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Peter Welch 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable William Keating 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515