~U.S.NRC United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

Protecting People and the Environment 

POWER REACTOR TRANSITION FROM 

OPERATIONS TO DECOMMISSIONING 

LESSONS LEARNED REPORT 

October 2016 

ML 16085A029 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... iii 

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ vi 

1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 

2.0 SCOPE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REPORT ..................................................... 5 

3.0 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................. 6 

3.1 LICENSING ......................................................................................................... 6 

REGULATORY PROCESS FOR POWER REACTOR 

DECOMMISSIONING TRANSITION .............................................................. 6 

TRANSITION ROADMAP .................................................................................... 8 

DECOMMISSIONING PLANNING ..................................................................... 13 

FINANCIAL ........................................................................................................ 15 

STAFFING ......................................................................................................... 16 

CHANGES TO THE LICENSE ........................................................................... 16 

LICENSE CONDITIONS .................................................................................... 17 

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS ..................................................................... 18 

SECURITY ........................................................................................................ 20 

ORDER RESCISSIONS .................................................................................... 20 

MISCELLANEOUS LICENSING ACTIONS ........................................................ 21 

3.2 INSPECTION AND OVERSIGHT ...................................................................... 28 

3.3 RULE MAKING ................................................................................................... 29 

3.4 COMMUNICATIONS ......................................................................................... 32 

4.0 LESSONS LEARNED ........................................................................................ 36 

5.0 BEST PRACTICES ............................................................................................ 38 

6.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................................... .40 
APPENDIX TO POWER REACTOR TRANSITION FROM OPERATIONS TO 

DECOMMISSIONING LESSONS LEARNED REPORT ........................................... Appendix 1-1 

1.0 LICENSING TOPICS .................................................................................... Appendix 1-1 

1.1 Decommissioning Planning ............................................................... Appendix 1-1 

1.2 Financial ......................................................................................... Appendix 1-15 

1.3 Staffing ........................................................................................... Appendix 1-27 

1.4 Changes to the License .................................................................. Appendix 1-35 

1.5 Emergency Preparedness .............................................................. Appendix 1-58 

1.6 Security .......................................................................................... Appendix 1-70 

1. 7 Quality Assurance Plans ................................................................. Appendix 1-85 

1.8 Transfer of Licensing and Oversight Responsibility from NRR to 

NMSS ............................................................................................. Appendix 1-87 

2.0 OVERSIGHT TOPICS .................................................................................. Appendix 2-1 

2.1 Inspection and Oversight .................................................................. Appendix 2-1 

2.2 Licensing and Oversight Budget Planning for Power Reactors 

Transitioning to Decommissioning .................................................... Appendix 2-9 

3.0 COMMUNICATIONS .................................................................................... Appendix 3-1 

4.0 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION RELATED TO REACTOR 

DECOMMISSIONING .................................................................................. Appendix 4-1 

4.1 Staffing during Decommissioning Transition ..................................... Appendix 4-1 

4.2 Snapshot of Current Power Reactor Decommissioning Status .......... Appendix 4-3 

4.3 IMC 2561 Update and Review Effort. ................................................ Appendix 4-4 

ii 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The purpose of this report is to document the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 

staff's lessons learned associated with recent permanent power reactor shutdowns during the 

period of 2013-2016. In particular, the staff's lessons learned focus on the transition from 

reactor operations to decommissioning for the following nuclear power plants: Kewaunee 

Power Station (KPS); Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating Plant (CR-3); San Onofre Nuclear 

Generating Station (SONGS), Units 2 and 3; and Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VY). 

The NRC staff completed reviewing the licensing requests for these plants to modify the 

operating reactors' licensing bases to reflect those of decommissioning reactors, then 

transferred the project management and oversight responsibility from the Office of Nuclear 

Reactor Regulation (NRA) to the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS). 

With the transfer of VY on February 1, 2016, regulatory oversight of all four sites was 

transferred to NMSS. NMSS will continue to provide the project management support for these 

decommissioning reactors until termination of the respective licenses. The report also provides 

a number of best practices that have been or are being implemented during the activities 

surrounding the nuclear power plants that plan to permanently shut down. 

This report fulfills an objective of the Decommissioning Transition Working Group (DTWG) to 

capture the lessons learned for the transition period up to, and including, the transfer of project 

management responsibility to NMSS. NRA was the lead organization for the project 

management and licensing actions associated with the plants that were transitioning to 

decommissioning. NMSS was the lead for public meetings, communications with the public, 

and congressional and media inquiries. Both offices were supported by the Office of Nuclear 

Security and Incident Response (NSIR), Office of the General Counsel (OGC), Office of 

Congressional Affairs (OCA), Office of Public Affairs (OPA), and the regional offices. In 

addition, the NRC regional offices supported the transition from the operating Reactor Oversight 

Process to the decommissioning reactor inspection programs as the plants permanently shut 

down and entered into decommissioning. 

The following highlights some of the challenges experienced by the NRC staff during the 

decommissioning transition licensing reviews from 2013 to 2016: 

• The unexpected shutdown of these reactors prior to the expiration of their operating 

licenses limited the NRC staff's ability to plan and, consequently, required resources to 

be reallocated to support the processing of licensing requests to support the transition to 

decommissioning. 

• Given the 15-year interval since conducting the prior decommissioning transition reviews 

(e.g., Zion Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2 were permanently shut down on 

February 21, 1997 and September 19, 1996, respectively), the NRC and the licensees 

both experienced steep learning curves, which constrained the effective processing of 

the decommissioning transition-related licensing actions. 

• Reviews were further challenged because of the limited availability of guidance for 

processing decommissioning transition licensing actions. 

iii 
During the processing of the decommissioning transition licensing actions, the NRC staff took 

numerous actions to address these challenges, including: 

• NRA utilized a centralized project management approach under one branch with a 

focused group of project managers to facilitate consistent licensing reviews for those 

plants that were transitioning to decommissioning. Furthermore, NMSS concurred on all 

of the decommissioning transition licensing reviews to help ensure knowledge transfer, 

consistency, and regulatory effectiveness. 

• The NRC established the DTWG to identify and resolve complex technical and policy 

issues and to serve as a communications platform for the ongoing activities. The DTWG 

coordinated the efforts of NRA, NMSS, NSIR, OGC, OPA, and the regional offices. This 

has resulted in improved process controls, timely communications, interim staff guidance 

documents for emergency preparedness and security, and a more integrated approach 

to managing and reviewing proposed licensee actions and submissions, as well as 

addressing oversight issues identified during the course of inspection activities in a 

timely manner. 

• The NRC staff has encouraged, and will continue to encourage, licensees to 

communicate and coordinate with the NRC staff early in the process regarding: 

o Their planned submittal dates-including submittals in advance of formal cessation 

of operation-and requested approval dates to support the licensees' established 

schedules of decommissioning activities. The NRC staff has already had several 

meetings with the licensees that have announced their intention to shut down before 

their license ends. 

o The use of regulatory precedent. Efficiency gains have already been realized in the 

reviews of the Certified Fuel Handler Training and Retraining programs for three 

Exelon plants that have announced their intention to permanently shut down. 

Some additional challenges were addressed as follows: 

• External stakeholders expressed significant interest in the NRC staff review of the 

decommissioning transition licensing activities, especially those associated with SONGS 

Units 2 and 3 and VY, as represented by media coverage, requests for public hearings 

and meetings, and questions to the NRC staff. As a result, the NRC staff developed 

communication plans and communication one-pagers in advance of, or concurrent with, 

the issuance of most of the licensing actions to timely and effectively inform internal 

stakeholders of significant actions and to prepare OPA and OCA for inquiries from 

external stakeholders. These communication plans and communication one-pagers 

were extremely helpful for SONGS and VY licensing actions. 

• Both the operating and decommissioning inspection programs guidance for the oversight 

of plants as they transitioned from operating to permanently shut down required 

substantive revisions as the programs were not fully maintained and updated as 

iv 
changes were made in the regulatory and oversight framework over the years. As a 

result, the NRC staff revised its inspection procedures to ensure appropriate oversight is 

maintained at sites whose licensees have announced their intention, and are preparing, 

to transition to a permanently shutdown condition. 

In addition to the lessons learned and best practices discussed above, the report provides 

detailed project management guidance, lessons learned, recommendations, and documentation 

of precedent related to the reviews and evaluations specific to the types of licensing actions that 

are expected to be processed during the decommissioning transition period, including oversight 

activities and communications. Many of the lessons learned and recommendations described in 

this report will be considered by the NRC staff for inclusion in the ongoing decommissioning 

rulemaking (as discussed in the advance notice of proposed rulemaking published in the 

Federal Register on November 19, 2015, at 80 FR 72358). Until the rulemaking is completed, 

the recently issued exemptions, amendments, and other licensing actions for decommissioning 

reactors described in this report will be used by the staff to inform its reviews of future 

decommissioning transition licensing actions. 

v 
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 

ADAMS 

ADM 

ANPR 

AV 

BC 

BWR 

CAB 

CAC 

CAP 

CAS 

CDA 

CEC 

CEMP 

CFH 

CFR 

CR-3 

CSP 

OBA 

DBT 

DCE 

DE CON 

DEF 

DEK 

DLR 

DNMS 

DOC 

DORL 

DPB 

DRP 

DRS 

DTF 

DTWG 

DUWP 

EA 

EAB 

EAL 

EIS 

ENS 

Entergy 

Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 

Office of Administration 

advance notice of proposed rulemaking 

audiovisual 

branch chief 

boiling-water reactor 

Community Advisory Board 

Cost Activity Code 

Community Advisory Panel 

central alarm station 

critical digital asset 

California Energy Commission 

comprehensive emergency management plan 

certified fuel handler 

Code of Federal Regulations 

Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating Plant 

cyber security plan 

design-basis accident 

design-basis threat 

decommissioning cost estimate 

decontamination and dismantlement 

Duke Energy Florida, Inc. 

Dominion Energy Kewaunee, Inc. 

Division of License Renewal 

Division of Nuclear Materials Safety 

Division of the Controller 

Division of Operating Reactor Licensing 

Division of Planning and Budget 

Division of Reactor Projects 

Division of Reactor Safety 

decommissioning trust fund 

Decommissioning Transition Working Group 

Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, 

and Waste Programs 

environmental assessment 

exclusion area boundary 

emergency action level 

environmental impact statement 

emergency notification system 

Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. 

vi 
ENTOMB 

EP 

EPA 

EPRI 

EPW 

EPZ 

EROS 

ERO 

FAQ 

FEMA 

FFD 

FONSI 

FR 

FRN 

FTE 

FY 

G2G 

GDC 

HOO 

HP 

ICM 

IFIB 

IFMP 

IMC 

IMP 

Indian Point Unit 3 

IP 

ISFSI 

ISG 

JAF 

KPS 

kWe 

LAR 

LTP 

MCR 

MBDBE 

encasement of radioactive contaminants in a structurally 

long-lived material 

emergency preparedness 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Electric Power Research Institute 

U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works 

emergency planning zone 

Emergency Response Data System 

emergency response organization 

frequently asked question 

Federal Emergency Management Agency 

fitness for duty 

finding(s) of no significant impact 

Federal Register 

Federal Register notice 

full-time equivalent 

fiscal year 

government to government 

general design criterion/criteria 

headquarters operations officer 

health physics 

interim compensatory measure 

Financial Analysis and International Projects Branch 

irradiated fuel management program 

Inspection Manual chapter 

Insider Mitigation Program 

Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit No. 3 

inspection procedure 

independent spent fuel storage installation 

interim staff guidance 

James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant 

Kewaunee Power Station 

kilowatt(s) electric 

license amendment request 

license termination plan 

main control room 

mitigation of beyond-design-basis events 

vii 
NAM 

NCV 

NEI 

NGO 

NMSS 

NRG 

NRR 

NSIR 

OCA 

OCFO 

OGG 

01 

OPA 

Oyster Creek 

P&P 

PAA 

PAG 

PDEP 

POTS 

PM 

PMDA 

PS 

PS DAR 

QA 

QFR 

RAI 

REP 

RERB 

RG 

RIC 

RIS 

ROP 

RSLO 

SAFSTOR 

SAS 

SCE 

SE 

SFP 

SUV 

SNM 

soc 

SONGS 

neutron-absorbing material 

non-cited violation 

Nuclear Energy Institute 

nongovernmental organization 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response 

Office of Congressional Affairs 

Office of the Chief Financial Officer 

Office of the General Counsel 

office instruction 

Office of Public Affairs 

Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station 

Policy and Procedure 

Price-Anderson Act 

protective action guideline 

Permanently Defueled Emergency Plan 

permanently defueled technical specification 

project manager 

Program Management, Policy Development and Analysis 

physical security 

post-shutdown decommissioning activities report 

quality assurance 

Question(s) for the Record 

request for additional information 

radiological emergency preparedness 

Environmental Review and Guidance Update Branch 

regulatory guide 

Regulatory Information Conference 

regulatory issue summary 

Reactor Oversight Process 

regional State liaison officer 

safe storage 

secondary alarm station 

Southern California Edison Company 

safety evaluation 

spent fuel pool 

Severity Level IV 

Special Nuclear Material 

Statement of Considerations 

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station 

viii 
SRI 

SRM 

SRO 

SSC 

SSEP 

TAC 

TOP 

TS 

UFSAR 

VY 

senior resident inspector 

staff requirements memorandum/memoranda 

senior reactor operator 

structure, system, and component 

safety, security, and emergency preparedness 

Task Assignment Control 

training, outreach, and planning 

technical specifications 

updated final safety analysis report 

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station 

ix 
1.0 INTRODUCTION 

Background 

In 1988, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) promulgated the first comprehensive 

power reactor decommissioning regulations. Those regulations addressed decommissioning 

planning, timing, funding, and environmental review responsibilities. The NRC revised the 

power reactor decommissioning regulations in 1996. The revised rule redefined the 

decommissioning process and required licensees to provide the NRC notification of planned 

decommissioning activities starting at or about 5 years prior to the projected end of operations. 

The primary rules for decommissioning a nuclear power plant are set forth in several NRC 

regulations such as Title 1 O of the Code of Federal Regulations (1 O CFR) Part 20, Subpart E, 

and 1 O CFR 50. 75, 50.82, 51.53, and 51.95. In addition, other regulations in 1 O CFR Part 50 

(10 CFR 50.59, 50.36(c)(6), 50.65, 50.48(f), and 50.54(y)) are explicitly applicable to 

decommissioning reactors. Some regulations are no longer applicable to decommissioning 

reactors once they are in a permanently shutdown and defueled condition. However, many 

operating reactor regulations continue to be applicable to decommissioning reactors. For 

decommissioning reactors, the types of potential accidents are fewer and risks of radiological 

releases are reduced when compared to an operating reactor. Therefore, to reflect this 

reduction in risk, licensees of decommissioning reactors have requested certain amendments to 

their licenses and certain exemptions from the NRC's regulations for operating plants. These 

licensing actions, which were processed during the transition from operation to 

decommissioning, establish the long-term regulatory framework for reactors that have 

permanently shut down and defueled. The NRC's transition period typically concludes with the 

transfer of regulatory responsibility from the operating reactor organization, the Office of Nuclear 

Reactor Regulation (NRR), to the nuclear materials program organization, the Office of Nuclear 

Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS). 

The primary NRC regulatory guidance for decommissioning transition is provided by: 

• Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.184, "Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Reactors," 

Revision 1, dated October 2013 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management 

System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML 13144A840) 

• RG 1.185, "Standard Format and Content for Post-Shutdown Decommissioning 

Activities Report," Revision 1, dated June 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML 13140A038) 

• RG 1.202, "Standard Format and Content of Decommissioning Cost Estimate for 

Nuclear Power Reactors," dated February 2005 (ADAMS Accession No. ML050230008) 

• NUREG-1713, "Standard Review Plan for Decommissioning Cost Estimates for Nuclear 

Power Reactors," dated December 2004 (ADAMS Accession No. ML043510113) 

Other documents pertinent to reactor decommissioning include: 

• NUREG-0586, "Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement on Decommissioning of 

Nuclear Facilities: Regarding the Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Reactors, 

Supplement 1, Volume 1: Main Report, Appendices A through M," dated 

November 2002 (ADAMS Accession No. ML023470304) 

1 
• NUREG-1628, "Staff Responses to Frequently Asked Questions concerning 

Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants," dated June 2000 (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML003726190) 

• Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC) 2561, "Decommissioning Power Reactor Inspection 

Program" (ADAMS Accession No. ML031270502) 

• IMC 2202, "Security Inspection Program for Decommissioning Nuclear Power Reactors" 

(not publicly available) 

• NRR Office Instruction (01) COM-101, "NRR Interfaces with NMSS" (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML022110316, not publicly available) 

• NMSS Policy and Procedure 5.1, "Reactor Decommissioning Program Procedures for 

Interfacing with the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation" (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML 16081A172, not publicly available) 

Although the 1996 rulemaking improved regulatory efficiency and effectiveness, 

decommissioning in the late 1990s indicated that additional regulatory enhancements were 

needed. Experience revealed that a substantial number of amendments and exemptions had to 

be processed during the first stage of decommissioning when the reactor transitions from 

operation to a permanently shutdown condition. A decommissioning rulemaking effort was 

initiated to address the transition issues but was subsequently suspended because of a shift in 

agency priorities following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, in conjunction with the 

determination that no additional reactor licensee had announced any intention to decommission 

a reactor in the foreseeable future. 

Between early 2013 and the end of 2014, five power reactors permanently ceased operation 

(Dominion Energy Kewaunee, lnc.-Kewaunee Power Station (KPS); Duke Energy Florida, 

lnc.-Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating Plant (CR-3); Southern California Edison Co. 

(SCE)-San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), Units 2 and 3; and Entergy Nuclear 

Operations, Inc. (Entergy)-Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VY)). These were the first 

reactors to transition to decommissioning since 1998-an interval of nearly 15 years without a 

power reactor permanently shutting down. Apart from VY, these recent power reactor 

shutdowns were unexpected and involved little preplanning. During an approximate 3-year 

period, over 70 decommissioning-related licensing actions and other regulatory actions were 

processed for the five transitioned reactors. 

Because it had been 15 years since any reactor had entered decommissioning, licensees and 

NRC staff initially had limited experience in processing the decommissioning transition-related 

licensing actions. This was exacerbated by the limited preplanning between licensees and the 

NRC and limited guidance on regulatory bases for many of the licensing activities. From a 

knowledge management perspective, the licensee and NRC staff were both working on steep 

learning curves. The NRC staff was further challenged to review and process multiple 

concurrent licensing action applications in order to meet the licensees' requested completion 

dates to support the licensees' efficient and effective use of their decommissioning trust funds. 

Interim Staff Actions 

In response to these challenges, NRC management consolidated decommissioning transition 

project management activities into one branch in NRA/Division of Operating Reactor Licensing 

2 
(DORL), to help ensure consistency, knowledge management, and regulatory effectiveness. 

The decommissioning licensing actions were also prioritized over routine operating licensing 

actions. For the more complex licensing actions related to emergency planning and security 

plan reviews, the NRC staff developed interim staff guidance to document the methodology 

used by the staff to perform the reviews and to facilitate future reviews. 

The NRC management also directed the formation of the interoffice Decommissioning 

Transition Working Group (DTWG) with principal members at the branch chief and staff level. 

The Branch Chiefs representing NRR/DORL and NMSS/Division of Decommissioning, Uranium 

Recovery, and Waste Programs co-chaired the DTWG; NRR has the lead responsibility for the 

licensing work, and NMSS has the lead responsibility for public meetings and communications 

with the public, Congress, State and local governments, and nongovernmental organizations. 

An objective of the DTWG was to identify, prioritize, and resolve challenges, and to foster 

communications with both internal and external stakeholders. One of the primary objectives of 

the DTWG was to enhance reactor decommissioning knowledge management by capturing and 

documenting the NRC staff experience gained during the transition process and to recommend 

long-term actions to improve the power reactor decommissioning transition process, such as the 

development of guidance, rulemaking, and changes to policy or procedures. This report fulfills 

an objective of the DTWG to provide a final report to document the lessons learned from those 

plants that recently transitioned from operation to decommissioning. 

Interim Findings, Summary Conclusions. and Next Steps 

Overall, the NRC staff experience confirms that the current exemption and amendment 

processes for transitioning plants are sufficient to ensure adequate protection of public health 

and safety and of the environment, and are consistent with the common defense and security. 

Most of the licensee exemption and amendment requests do not involve safety issues and are 

based instead on efficiencies gained and the associated reduction of licensee resources 

required for a plant that is being decommissioned. The reviews of many of the requested 

licensing actions were informed by precedents established from the NRC staff review and 

approvals of amendments and exemptions of earlier plants undergoing decommissioning, where 

appropriate. Furthermore, reviews and processing of licensing actions became more efficient 

with time, as both the staff and licensees gained experience. The staff, through conducting the 

licensing reviews and performing its inspection activities, confirmed and concluded that the 

licensees of these five reactor units safely transitioned the plants from operation to 

decommissioning. 

As of February 1, 2016, all five of the recently permanently shutdown reactors had been 

transitioned to decommissioning and transferred to NMSS. 

The NRC staff recognizes that the continued need for exemptions by licensees transitioning to 

decommissioning reflects a gap in the regulatory structure. Use of regulatory exemptions has a 

number of drawbacks when compared to having explicit regulations applicable to 

decommissioning plants. The exemption approach is not as efficient or predictable, does 

not provide for public comment, and does not benefit from the thoughtful examination of an 

appropriate overall regulatory framework for decommissioning plants that a rulemaking would 

provide. Consequently, the staff has initiated a Commission-directed rulemaking to expand and 

enhance the reactor decommissioning regulations, with a specific focus on the transition period 

3 
from operation to permanently shut down. As documented in SECY-15-0014, "Anticipated 

Schedule and Estimated Resources for a Power Reactor Decommissioning Rulemaking," dated 

January 30, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML 15082A089), the staff has initiated this proposed 

rulemaking with the goal of providing the final rulemaking to the Commission for approval in 

calendar year 2019. 

Additional reactor licensees have announced their intent to permanently cease operations in 

the next few years: 

• By letter dated August 25, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML 16242A 127), the Omaha 

Public Power District notified the NRC staff that it plans to permanently cease operations 

at Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1 on October 24, 2016. 

• By letter dated March 16, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML 16076A391), Entergy notified 

the NRC staff that it plans to permanently cease operations at James A. FitzPatrick 

Nuclear Power Plant on January 27, 20171

. 

• By letter dated June 20, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML 16172A 137), Exelon 

Generation Company, LLC (Exelon) notified the NRC staff that it plans to permanently 

cease operations at Clinton Power Station, Unit 1 by June 1, 2017. 

• By letter dated June 20, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML 16172A151), Exelon notified 

the NRC staff that it plans to permanently cease operations at Quad Cities Nuclear 

Power Station, Units 1 and 2 by June 1, 2018. 

• By letter dated November 1 O, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML 15328A053), Entergy 

notified the NRC that it plans to cease operations at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station no 

later than June 1, 2019. 

• By letter dated January 7, 2011 (ADAMS Accession No. ML 110070507), Exelon notified 

the NRC staff of its plan to permanently cease operations at Oyster Creek Nuclear 

Generating Station no later than December 31, 2019. 

Based on current economic factors, it is reasonable to assume that additional nuclear power 

plants might permanently shut down over the next few years. The NRC reactor 

decommissioning rulemaking, currently in the early stages, could potentially benefit licensees of 

reactors that will permanently shut down after 2020; however, the NRC staff expects that the 

benefits of the anticipated regulatory changes will likely not be realized for reactors that shut 

down before 2020. In the interim, the NRC staff will continue to implement the best practices 

and address the recommendations contained in this report. 

1 At the time of this report, Exelon was in negotiations with Entergy to transfer ownership of FitzPatrick to 

Exelon with the intention to continue operation of the reactor. 

4 
2.0 SCOPE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REPORT 

The NRC staff has produced this lessons learned report to enhance the effectiveness and 

efficiency of future licensing activities related to the transition from the operating reactor phase 

to the decommissioning phase. 

Decommissioning activities can be divided into three phases: (1) transition from reactor 

operation to decommissioning; (2) long-term storage, active dismantlement, and 

decontamination activities; and (3) license termination activities. This report focuses on the 

NRC regulatory processes for the first phase of decommissioning during the transition from 

operation to a permanently shutdown and defueled condition. 

The main body of the report discusses the core regulatory functions (licensing, oversight, 

rulemaking) relative to the transition to decommissioning, as well as support functions 

(e.g., communications). Within each function, the report summarizes the various activities, 

the most comprehensive being the licensing actions. Key lessons learned and notable 

recommendations-many of which have already been implemented during this round of 

reactors that transitioned-are listed in Sections 4 and 5 of the body of the report. Appended 

to the report are more detailed discussions to assist NRC staff in preparing for and processing 

future requests for regulatory action by the licensees. The lessons learned and 

recommendations are provided in the specific topic sections of the appendices. The staff 

anticipates that the proposed decommissioning rulemaking will address most of the longer term 

recommendations. 

The information provided in this report does not preclude alternate approaches and may be 

superseded by future changes to NRC policy, regulation, inspection, licensing, or understanding 

of decommissioning risk. 

5 
3.0 DISCUSSION 

All operating reactor licensees will eventually cease operation, decommission their reactors, and 

terminate their 1 O CFR Part 50 and other licenses. A licensee may elect to enter into 

decommissioning at any time before the expiration of the operating license or at the end of the 

operating license period. However, a licensee may also request to renew its operating license, 

in which case the licensee would begin the transition to decommissioning at the end of the 

renewal period. 

Recently, the forecasted long-term supply of less-expensive power, together with plant 

modification, maintenance, and repair costs, have led some reactor licensees to reexamine the 

economics of nuclear power. As a result, several licensees have opted to permanently shut 

down their plants earlier than anticipated. Each licensee for these permanently shutdown plants 

submitted plant-specific exemption requests for those regulations that it believes are no longer 

applicable to its facility and amendment requests to its licenses that reflect the decommissioning 

status of its facilities. The preparation and subsequent reviews of these exemption and 

amendment requests represent a large level of effort for both the licensees and the NRC staff. 

Because the early closure of a nuclear facility can happen relatively quickly, it is important that 

the NRC project managers (PMs) encourage licensees to begin planning for permanent reactor 

shutdown and decommissioning as early as reasonably practicable. Because all operating 

reactors will eventually shut down, this preplanning will serve to provide for a smoother 

transition from reactor operation to decommissioning. 

As noted in the introduction, the NRC staff is working on a decommissioning rulemaking with the 

goal of enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the decommissioning transition process. 

Until that rule is completed, this report should help provide practical guidance to NRC staff in 

addressing licensing activities associated with operating reactor licensees contemplating or 

implementing a permanent cessation of operation, permanent removal of all fuel from the 

reactor vessel, and transition to decommissioning. 

3.1 LICENSING 

REGULATORY PROCESS FOR POWER REACTOR DECOMMISSIONING TRANSITION 

The primary reactor decommissioning requirements are codified in 1 O CFR 50.82, ''Termination 

of License." The associated primary decommissioning planning requirements are codified in 

10 CFR 50.75, "Reporting and Recordkeeping for Decommissioning Planning." A nuclear 

power reactor licensee formally begins the decommissioning process when it certifies 

permanent cessation of operation and permanent removal of fuel from the reactor vessel under 

1 O CFR 50.82(a)(1 ). Once these certifications are docketed with the NRC, the 1 O CFR Part 50 

license no longer authorizes operation of the reactor. Despite this withdrawal of authority to 

operate, a decommissioning nuclear power plant continues to retain a 1 O CFR Part 50 operating 

license. As such, the decommissioning plant continues to be subject to many of the 

requirements that apply to plants authorized to operate pursuant to 1 O CFR Part 50. 

Regulations that are designed to protect the public against reactor operation-related design 

basis events that include conditions of normal operation, anticipated operational occurrences, 

6 
and design-basis accidents (DBAs) are no longer applicable at a permanently shutdown and 

defueled reactor. For example, certain accident sequences, such as loss-of-coolant accidents 

and anticipated transient without scram, are no longer relevant to a permanently shutdown and 

defueled reactor. In addition, some regulations may not be relevant to certain structures, 

systems, and components (SSCs) since the SSCs are no longer required to be maintained, to 

operate, or to mitigate certain accidents, events, or transients, whether they are safety-related 

or security-related. Other regulations, although based on power operation of the plant, may 

continue to be applicable to the permanently defueled facility until an exemption is granted, 

such as the need for offsite radiological emergency preparedness (REP) plans under 

1 O CFR Part 50. Typically, the scope of these requirements can be reduced to those 

regulations and requirements that primarily pertain to the safe storage of the spent fuel in the 

spent fuel pool (SFP) as described in the site's final safety analysis report. 

Upon a licensee's permanent cessation of reactor operation and permanent removal of fuel from 

the reactor vessel, the licensee will typically submit a significant number of requests for 

licensing actions based on the reduced risk profile. Licensees will likely seek amendments to 

their licenses, as well as exemptions from certain regulatory requirements that they have 

determined to have no beneficial contribution to safety or security when the reactor is 

permanently shut down and defueled. Licensees will also use the 1 O CFR 50.59, "Changes, 

tests, and experiments," process and other specific change processes to make additional 

changes to the plant that do not require NRC approval. Such changes to the decommissioning 

design-basis analyses, SSCs, and licensee organizations, processes, and procedures would be 

reflected in the licensee's updated final safety analysis report. Licensees will also be using the 

provisions (among others) set forth in 1 O CFR 50.54(p), and 1 O CFR 50.54(q) to change the 

facility licensing bases. 

The timing and implementation for some decommissioning licensing actions are based on 

an approach that recognizes further reduction in risk after cessation of power operations and 

removal of fuel from the reactor vessel. These risk reductions can be tied to several factors, 

including, but not limited to: (1) the radiological source term after cessation of power operations 

and removal of fuel from the reactor vessel; (2) elapsed time after permanent shutdown; and 

(3) type of long-term onsite fuel storage. The two areas where these additional risk reductions 

are considered in the early decommissioning transition process are emergency preparedness 

(EP) and facility insurance and indemnity. Exemptions in EP and insurance coverage 

requirements will not be approved until qualifying analyses confirm that there are no DBAs that 

would require protective actions for the public due to a release of radioactive material with a 

dose exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) protective action guidelines 

(PAGs). The qualifying analyses also assess a postulated, very low probability, 

beyond-design-basis zirconium fire scenario. The analyses show that the decay heat generated 

by the spent fuel stored in the SFP would not reach the zirconium ignition temperature in less 

than 10 hours, conservatively assuming no water or air cooling of the fuel. The NRC staff has 

concluded that if 10 hours were available to initiate mitigative actions or, if needed, to implement 

offsite protective actions using a comprehensive emergency management plan (CEMP), 2 formal 

2 A CEMP in this context, also referred to as an emergency operations plan (EOP), is addressed in the Federal 

Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 101, "Developing and 

Maintaining Emergency Operations Plans." CPG 101 is the foundation for State, territorial, Tribal, and local EP in the 

United States. It promotes a common understanding of the fundamentals of risk-informed planning and 

7 
offsite radiological emergency plans would not be necessary tor permanently defueled nuclear 

power reactor licensees. 

Additional risk reductions will occur when the spent fuel is removed from the SFP into dry cask 

storage at an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI). Most decommissioning 

reactors will have an ISFSI licensed under the general license provisions of Subpart K, "General 

License for Storage of Spent Fuel at Power Reactor Sites," of 1 O CFR Part 72, "Licensing 

Requirements for the Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level Radioactive 

Waste, and Reactor-Related Greater than Class C Waste," and the licensees may opt to make 

changes to their emergency plans and security programs to align with the requirements of 

1 O CFR Part 72. This lessons learned report does not address licensing actions and changes to 

the 10 CFR Part 50 regulatory framework more than approximately 2 years after permanent 

shutdown. Removal of all fuel from the SFP will typically occur well after the initial 

decommissioning transition process ends and will be part of the long-term project management 

and regulatory oversight provided by NMSS. 

The amount of licensing activity will vary throughout the entire decommissioning process until 

license termination. However, the largest amount of licensing activity is expected to occur 

during the transition from operation to decommissioning when the long-term regulatory 

framework for decommissioning is typically established. 

TRANSITION ROADMAP 

Based on power reactor decommissioning experience from the 1990s, the NRC staff developed 

several reference documents that provide a general roadmap of the regulatory transition 

process from the operating phase to the decommissioning phase. 

• NRR 01 COM-101 defines the interactions, licensing program management 

responsibilities, and support functions for NRC staff regulatory oversight of 

decommissioning commercial nuclear power plants as project management 

responsibility transitions from NRR to NMSS. The instructions in COM-101 identify the 

regulatory milestones that are expected to be requested while project management is 

still maintained by NRR. Upon completion of the milestones, the licensing and 

regulatory basis of the facility is more representative of a materials licensee temporarily 

storing and processing radioactive waste than a commercial nuclear power reactor 

facility authorized to operate. Once these milestones are achieved, project management 

oversight and responsibility will be transferred to NMSS. 

• NMSS Policy and Procedure 5.1 defines the NMSS responsibility for decommissioning 

transition and mirrors the requirements in COM-101. 

decisionmaking and helps planners at all levels of government in their efforts to develop and maintain viable, allhazards, all-threats emergency plans. An EOP is flexible enough for use in all emergencies. It describes how people 

and property will be protected; details who is responsible for carrying out specific actions; identifies the personnel, 

equipment, facilities, supplies and other resources available; and outlines how all actions will be coordinated. A 

CEMP is often referred to as a synonym for "all hazards planning." 

8 
• NSIR/DPR-ISG-02, "Emergency Planning Exemption Requests for Decommissioning 

Nuclear Power Plants." This interim staff guidance (ISG) provides guidance to NRC staff 

for conducting the technical review of requests for exemptions from the EP requirements 

for nuclear power reactors based on the projected or actual permanently shutdown and 

defueled condition of the facility. The ISG also provides guidance for the staff's review 

of associated changes to the licensee's emergency plan for a permanently shutdown 

and defueled reactor that reflects the as-granted EP exemptions. 

• NSIR/DSP-ISG-03, "Review of Security Exemptions/License Amendment Requests for 

Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants." The purpose of this ISG is to provide 

guidance to NRC staff on conducting technical reviews and safety evaluations of a 

licensee's requests for license amendments, alternative measures, and requests for 

exemption from security regulations for nuclear power plants that are undergoing the 

process of decommissioning. 

The licensing activities a PM can anticipate during the decommissioning transition phase are 

generally grouped into the following main categories: 

Decommissioning Planning 

Operations Staff Qualifications 

Financial 

Emergency Preparedness 

TS 

Security Related 

License Conditions 

Order Rescissions 

Post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR) 

and related site-specific decommissioning cost estimate 

(DCE) 

Certified fuel handler (CFH) training and retraining 

program, under which nonlicensed operators can qualify as 

a CFH and any necessary technical specification (TS) 

amendments to utilize CFHs in lieu of licensed operators at 

decommissioning reactors 

Decommissioning trust fund (DTF) and offsite/onsite 

insurance 

Regulatory exemptions and amendments to the 

emergency plan and emergency action level (EAL) scheme 

Defueled TS amendments 

Site-specific security plan changes and exemptions 

Amendments to align conditions in the reactor operating 

license to a decommissioning facility 

Requests to rescind various security or Fukushima-related 

orders 

A more detailed listing of the expected decommissioning licensing activities is provided in 

Table 3-1 below. The order of the actions does not necessarily reflect the order that the 

licensee may submit its requests. With sufficient preplanning, many licensing actions can 

be submitted to the NRC prior to permanent shut down (see items marked with asterisk). 

9 
The appendix to this report provides additional discussions of specific topical areas encountered 

during the processing of the decommissioning licensing actions that were subject to regulatory 

evaluation issues, lessons learned efficiencies, or other NRC staff consideration. Most of the 

information provided in the appendix will contribute to the staff's decommissioning transition 

process knowledge management and knowledge transfer until a reactor decommissioning 

rulemaking is completed. Note that some areas addressed in the appendix (e.g., fitness for duty 

or aging management) present staff positions during decommissioning reviews but were not 

directly related to specific licensee-requested actions. 

Table 3-1 Expected Decommissioning Transition Licensing Activities 

Licensing and Other NRC NRC 

Exemption Amendment Actions Approval Assessment Regulatory Actions Required Only 

5 years prior to license expiration 

(or 2 years after permanent 

shutdown, whichever occurs first) x x -- irradiated fuel management 

program (IFMP) 

10 CFR 50.54(bb) IFMP 

5 years prior to projected end of 

plant operation -- x x Preliminary DCE 

10 CFR 50.75(f)(3) 

Licensee communication x regarding possibility of shutdown 

Licensee public announcement of x permanent shutdown 

Public meeting with licensee x 

on decommissioning planning 

Certification of permanent 

shutdown x 

10 CFR 50.82(a)(1 )(i) 

Certification of permanent 

fuel removal x 

10 CFR 50.82(a)(1 )(ii) 

Public information meeting on x decommissioning transition 

Annual fee reclassification x 10 CFR 171.15(c)(1) 

10 
Other NRC NRC Licensing and Exemption Amendment Actions Approval Assessment Regulatory Actions Required Only 

PSDAR* 

PSDAR public meeting x 10 CFR 50.82 

PSDAR meeting summary x with transcripts 

PSDAR assessment closeout x x letter 

Site-specific cost estimate x x 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(iii) 

Final safety analysis report 

revision/update to reflect x 

shutdown status 10 CFR 50.71 (e) 

CFH training and retraining x x program* 

TS* 

TS section, "Administrative 

controls" amendment (CFH x x 

and other staffing changes) 

Amendment to remove 

irradiated fuel x x 

handling-related TSs 

Defueled TScomprehensive amendment x x 

to all TSs 

Financial 

Use of DTF for spent x x fuel management* 

Insurance indemnity 

exemption x x 10 CFR 140.11 (a)(4) and 

10 CFR 50.54(w) 

Modifications to parent 

company guarantee support x x 

agreement 

11 
Licensing and Other NRC NRC 

Exemption Amendment Actions Approval Assessment Regulatory Actions Required Only 

EP 

Emergency plan changes in 

the on-shift and Emergency 

Response Organization x x (ERO) staffing based on 

permanent shutdown and 

defueled condition of facility* 

EP exemptions 1 O CFR 50.47 

and 10 CFR Part 50, x x 

Appendix E * 

Commission approval of EP 

exemption per x x 

SECY-08-0024 

Permanently defueled 

emergency plan and 

associated changes to x x the EAL scheme 

implementing EP exemption, 

as granted* 

Termination of Emergency 

Response Data System x x 

(EROS) 

Permanently defueled 

emergency plan and EAL 

schemes reflecting removal of x x 

all spent fuel from the SFP to 

an onsite ISFSI (ISFSI only) 

Security 

Security plan changes 

10 CFR 50.54(p) review and x x 

acknowledgement letter 

Security plan amendment x x 

Site-specific security 

exemptions* x x 10 CFR 73.55(p)(i) & p(ii), 

10 CFR 73.55U)(4)(ii), etc. 

Amendments to license 

conditions (material possession, x x fire protection, license renewal, 

etc.) 

12 
Licensing and Other NRC NRC 

Exemption Amendment Actions Approval Assessment Regulatory Actions Required Only 

Order Rescissions 

Security x x EA-02-026, EA-06-137 

Fukushima 

EA-12-049, EA-12-051, x x 

EA-13-109 

Miscellaneous 

Quality assurance (QA) 

program x xa 

10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B 

Exemption from certain x x recordkeeping regulations 

a NRG approval required only if change is a decrease in commitments. 

* action that can be submitted to the NRG prior to permanent shutdown 

DECOMMISSIONING PLANNING 

The following information provides a high-level summary of the licensing actions processed as 

the reactors recently transitioned to decommissioning. More detailed information on these 

topical areas is provided in the appendix to this report. 

The current 1 O CFR Part 50 regulations for reactor decommissioning were designed for plants 

that were expected to be permanently shut down after their operating licenses expired, as 

opposed to plants that shut down prematurely. The decommissioning planning process is 

expected to start 5 years before the end of the license. The first five items in Table 3.1 would 

typically be performed in the planning period. Regardless of when the plant permanently shuts 

down, the certification of permanent shutdown and the certification of permanent fuel removal 

are required to be submitted to the NRC. The PSDAR is also required to be submitted to the 

NRC and is considered the key communication to the NRC, and the public, on the 

decommissioning plan for the reactor. To date, no licensee has operated a power reactor to the 

end of its licensed operating period. 

Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report 

The regulation in 1 O CFR 50.82(a)(4)(i) requires the licensee, prior to or within 2 years after 

permanent cessation of operations, to submit a PSDAR to the NRC and to send a copy to the 

affected States. RG 1.185 provides guidance on the contents of the PSDAR. The PSDAR must 

contain a description of the planned decommissioning activities, a schedule for the completion 

of these activities, an estimate of expected costs, and a discussion of the reasons for 

concluding that the environmental impacts associated with the site-specific decommissioning 

activities will be bounded by appropriate, previously issued environmental impact statements. 

The NRC staff is required to notice the licensee's submission of the PSDAR in the Federal 

Register (FR) and make it available for public comment. In addition, the staff is required to hold 

13 
a public meeting in the vicinity of the site. Although the regulations do not require that the NRC 

staff approve the licensee's PSDAR, the NRC staff does perform a review of the PSDAR's 

content against the requirements in 1 O CFR 50.82(a)(4)(i), and guidance and acceptance 

criteria in RG 1.202 and NUREG-1713, as they pertain to the estimate of expected costs 

contained in the PSDAR. 

The NRC staff coordinates several activities immediately following submittal of the PSDAR. 

There is a 90-day waiting period from the date that the licensee's certifications under 

1 O CFR 50.82(a)(1) and PSDAR have been submitted until the licensee can perform any major 

decommissioning activities as defined in 1 O CFR 50.2, "Definitions." During this period, the 

NRC staff reviews the contents of the PSDAR to ensure it meets the requirements of 

1 O CFR 50.82(a)(4)(i), as well as guidance and acceptance criteria in RG 1.202 and NUREG1713, and holds the public meeting on the PSDAR. If the NRC staff cannot determine whether 

the PSDAR meets the requirements, they would issue a letter to the licensee with questions 

related to the specific requirements. The PSDAR closeout letter is then issued as soon as 

practical following the completion of the staff's review. 

See Appendix Section 1.1.1 for additional information. 

Irradiated Fuel Management Program 

One licensing action related to decommissioning planning is the licensee's submittal of an IFMP 

for preliminary staff approval as required in 10 CFR 50.54(bb). Specifically, 1 O CFR 50.54(bb) 

requires licensees to submit an IFMP to the NRC for preliminary approval within 2 years 

following permanent cessation of operation of the reactor or 5 years before expiration of the 

reactor operating license, whichever occurs first. Licensees have, on occasion, satisfied this 

requirement by submitting an IFMP together with the preliminary DCE. 

The purpose of the IFMP is to provide reasonable assurance that the licensee has a program 

or strategy to manage and fund the management of irradiated fuel during decommissioning in a 

manner that is consistent with NRC requirements and that will be timely implemented. In 

addition to the decommissioned plant submittals, licensees requesting to renew their operating 

licenses should have also submitted an IFMP within 5 years of the expiration date of the original 

operating license. While the IFMP may have been previously submitted by a decommissioning 

licensee and received preliminary approval 5 years before permanent shutdown (or during 

license renewal), the licensee will have to update the program upon permanent shutdown. As 

required by 1 O CFR 50.82(a)(4)(i), the PSDAR includes a site specific DCE, including the 

projected cost of managing irradiated fuel. The IFMP may also be used to support an 

exemption request to permit use of the DTF for irradiated fuel management expenses. 

See Appendix Section 1.1.2 for additional information. 

Decommissioning Cost Estimate 

Another licensing action required to be submitted 5 years prior to the end of projected operation 

is a "preliminary" DCE pursuant to 1 O CFR 50. 75(f)(3). The purpose of the preliminary DCE is 

to provide the NRC with an up-to-date estimate of decommissioning costs and identify major 

factors that may impact the cost to decommission a facility. In addition, the comparison of this 

14 
estimate against the minimum decommissioning trust fund amount required in 10 CFR 50.75(b) 

and (c) provides reasonable assurance that the licensee's decommissioning trust will have 

sufficient funding to accomplish radiological decommissioning of the facility. Like the IFMP, 

there are many examples of the preliminary DCE reviews and evaluations since every licensee 

that has received a license renewal should have submitted its preliminary DCE within 5 years of 

the expiration date of the original license, as well as the licensees that have decommissioned 

their facilities. Guidance in RG 1.202 provides the standard format and content of 

decommissioning cost estimates for nuclear power reactors. 

FINANCIAL 

Decommissioning Trust Fund Exemption Requests 

The NRC regulations in 1 O CFR 50.82 and 10 CFR 50. 75 restrict use of the trust funds to 

legitimate decommissioning activities-removal and decontamination of radioactive materials 

and license termination activities, but not irradiated fuel management (commonly referred to as 

spent fuel management)-and require 30 days' notice to the NRC for withdrawals for purposes 

other than legitimate decommissioning activities. Thus, licensees have requested exemptions 

to use these funds for spent fuel management and, in some cases, site restoration activities. 

The exemption will usually request that such withdrawals from the trust be done without prior 

notification to the NRC. 

The NRC staff will review the licensee's DTF, the decommissioning approach and costs in the 

PSDAR and DCE, and the licensee's updated IFMP, in order to determine whether there is 

reasonable assurance that adequate funds will be available in the trust to complete 

decommissioning and license termination as well as perform the requested activities. In 

previously granted exemptions, the NRC concluded that using a portion of the trust for spent 

fuel management would not prevent the licensee from completing radiological decontamination 

and cleanup of the decommissioning reactor site through license termination. 

Some licensees have also requested this exemption to support the accelerated transfer of spent 

fuel from the SFP to dry cask storage. 

See Appendix Section 1.2.1 for additional information. 

Granting of Exemption from Offsite Liability Insurance Requirements 

Most licensees of permanently shutdown reactors will request exemptions from certain 

requirements in 10 CFR 140.11 (a)(4) during the decommissioning transition period. The 

exemption reduces the required amount of primary offsite liability insurance coverage from 

$375 million (increasing to $450 million effective January 2017) to $100 million. In addition, the 

exemption will permit the licensee to remove the facility from participation in the secondary 

insurance pool. Consistent with precedent, this exemption is based on demonstrating that the 

spent fuel in the SFP is air coolable (and is similar to the type of beyond design basis zirconium 

fire accident scenario analyses that are used to assess offsite EP exemptions). Consequently, 

this exemption would be processed after the site has been granted a reduction in offsite EP. 

See Appendix Section 1.2.2 for additional information. 

15 
Granting of Exemption from Onsite Property Damage and Cleanup 

Insurance Requirements 

Most licensees of permanently shutdown reactors will request exemptions from certain 

requirements in 1 O CFR 50.54(w)(1) to reduce the required level of onsite property damage 

insurance from $1.06 billion to $50 million. Consistent with precedent, this exemption is based 

on demonstrating that the spent fuel in the SFP is air coolable (and is similar to the type of 

beyond design basis zirconium fire accident scenario analyses that are used to assess offsite 

EP exemptions). Consequently, this exemption would be processed after the site has been 

granted a reduction in offsite EP. 

See Appendix Section 1.2.2 for additional information. 

STAFFING 

Approval of Certified Fuel Handler Training and Retraining Program 

A nuclear power reactor that has permanently ceased operations and no longer has fuel in the 

reactor vessel does not require a licensed individual to monitor core conditions. In lieu of 

licensed operators, decommissioning reactors will utilize a CFH as the senior on-shift operations 

representative on site. The CFH is a nonlicensed operator position that was formalized as part 

of a 1996 rulemaking for power reactors that have permanently shut down and transitioned to 

decommissioning. The CFH will be the on-shift management representative responsible for 

supervising and directing the monitoring, storage, handling, and cooling of irradiated nuclear 

fuel, and responding to facility emergencies, in a manner consistent with ensuring adequate 

protection of the health and safety of the public. The CFH has the requisite knowledge and 

experience to evaluate plant conditions and make these judgements. As specified in 

1 O CFR 50.2, the CFH training and retraining program used to qualify a non licensed operator as 

a CFH must be approved by the NRC. As such, the NRC staff will review the CFH training and 

retraining program to verify that it contains the necessary training elements to provide the 

nonlicensed operator with the requisite knowledge and experience to qualify as a CFH, and 

thereby be qualified to make decisions and take actions to protect the health and safety of the 

public, provide appropriate oversight of decommissioning activities, and respond to plant 

emergencies. 

Besides approval of the CFH training and retraining program, implementation of the CFH 

staffing position for decommissioning reactors, NRC has approved amendments to the staffing 

requirements in the Administrative Controls section of the licensee's TSs. 

See Appendix Section 1.3.1 for additional information. 

CHANGES TO THE LICENSE 

Defueled Technical Specifications-Comprehensive Amendment to All 

Technical Specifications 

All of the licensees of recently permanently shutdown reactors have proposed comprehensive 

amendments to their facilities' TSs to reflect their permanently shutdown and defueled status. 

16 
Most of the TSs for an operating power reactor specify modes of applicability that correspond to 

conditions of operation for the reactor or apply only when fuel is emplaced in the reactor vessel. 

For a permanently shutdown and defueled reactor, these modes refer to conditions that are no 

longer possible because the reactor cannot be operated and fuel cannot be placed in the core. 

In such cases, TSs with modes of applicability can be removed from the license without 

affecting the safety of the facility. In addition, substantial changes are also made to the 

Administrative Controls section of the TSs, including changes to facility staff responsibilities, 

staffing organization, and staffing levels. Some program and reporting requirements only 

applicable to operating reactors are also deleted or modified. 

In addition to decommissioning-related amendments to the operating reactor TS described 

above, two narrow-in-scope TS license amendments may be requested early in the 

decommissioning transition process. One involves the use of the certified fuel handler, as 

discussed above. Another amendment may be needed to support irradiated fuel handling. The 

irradiated fuel handling amendment would remove the TS limiting conditions of operations 

related to certain safety-related systems that are typically required for irradiated fuel handling, 

such as the control room habitability systems, fuel handling building ventilation systems, 

actuation instrumentation, and supporting safety-related electrical systems. 

See Appendix Section 1.4.1 for additional information. 

LICENSE CONDITIONS 

All 1 O CFR Part 50 reactor licenses contain license conditions that the NRC has imposed 

on licensees whenever it was deemed appropriate and necessary, in accordance with 

10 CFR 50.50, "Issuance of Licenses and Construction Permits." When the licensee submits 

the 1 O CFR 50.82 letters asserting that the reactor is permanently shut down and defueled, 

many of the license conditions are no longer relevant and can be modified or removed from 

the license. 

Section 1 of a facility operating license should not be amended, because it documents the 

Commission's findings at the time of initial licensing. Some licensees have requested 

amendments to the license conditions in Section 2 of the reactor's facility operating license; 

however, since the licensee is not authorized to operate the plant or load fuel in the vessel, 

many of these license conditions are not relevant-even if left in place. In most circumstances, 

the Fire Protection Program license condition can be removed because it ensures protections 

are in place to reach safe shutdown in the event of a fire. The fire protection requirements for 

decommissioning reactors specified in 1 O CFR 50.48 require the licensee to maintain fire 

protection capabilities for the rest of the plant to address fire events that may have radiological 

consequences. Removal of the operating reactor fire protection license condition should not 

impact fire protection at a decommissioning reactor. The license condition related to mitigating 

strategies for large fires and explosions should remain for the SFP. Based on recent 

experience with this license condition, licensees have elected to leave the condition unchanged 

and implement it as appropriate for site-specific conditions. It should be noted that the NRC 

staff's evaluation of the exemptions related to EP regulations relies heavily on the licensee's 

prompt implementation of the mitigating strategies license condition for the SFP. For reactors 

that have received renewed operating licenses, there may be some license conditions that need 

modification or removal depending on site-specific conditions. 

17 
See Appendix Section 1.4.4 for additional information. 

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS 

During the decommissioning transition period, licensees have requested several EP licensing 

actions, including: an initial post-shutdown amendment to the emergency plan modifying the 

licensee's on-shift and ERO staffing under the existing regulatory requirements of 10 CFR Part 

50; an exemption request for many of the EP regulations; and an amendment approving a 

permanently defueled emergency plan (PDEP) and EAL scheme implementing the EP 

regulatory exemptions. The NRC staff will also acknowledge the licensee's termination of the 

EADS, if requested. Subsequently, the licensee may also submit a license amendment 

reflecting a further reduction in ERO staffing under the EP requirements, as exempted, to reflect 

the transferring of spent fuel from the SFP to an ISFSI. 

Changes in the On-Shift and Emergency Response Organization Staffing upon 

Permanent Shutdown and Defueling 

Early in the decommissioning transition period, licensees may request an amendment to their 

emergency plans to remove certain on-shift and augmented ERO positions, based on the 

permanently shutdown and defueled condition of the facility, which no longer requires certain 

positions (e.g., core or thermo-hydraulic engineer) to respond to an event at an operating 

facility. These on-shift and augmented ERO positions would no longer be necessary after the 

licensee has certified under 1 O CFR 50.82(a)(1) that the reactor has permanently ceased 

operation and fuel has permanently been removed from the reactor vessel, and the licensee has 

determined that credible accidents no longer exist that would require these functions. However, 

adequate on-shift and augmented ERO staffing must be maintained to support the prompt 

implementation of SFP mitigation strategies and the timely and effective communication and 

coordination with offsite response organizations in accordance with Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA)-approved State and local REP plans. 

EP Exemptions and Permanently Defueled Emergency Plan and EAL Scheme 

Amendment 

For some period of time after the licensee permanently ceases reactor operations (normally 

15-18 months), FEMA-approved offsite REP plans are required to be maintained under 

1 O CFR 50.47, "Emergency Plans." This period of time depends on the decay time of spent fuel 

stored in the SFP, as well as site-specific considerations to meet the EP exemption criteria. The 

EP exemption can be granted when the NRC staff determines that: (1) a postulated radiological 

release would not exceed the EPA PAGs at the exclusion area boundary for DBAs applicable to 

a permanently shutdown and defueled reactor, and (2) sufficient time would exist to take prompt 

mitigative actions in response to a postulated zirconium fire accident scenario in the SFP and, if 

warranted, for offsite officials to take offsite protective actions to protect public health and safety 

using a CEMP. If the EP exemption is granted, the NRC will no longer require a formal 

determination by FEMA of the adequacy of offsite REP plans. 

Permanently shutdown and defueled power reactor licensees will likely request regulatory 

exemptions from certain standards as set forth in 1 O CFR 50.47 and requirements of 

Appendix E to 1 O CFR Part 50, "Emergency Planning and Preparedness for Production and 

18 
Utilization Facilities." Decommissioning licensees will submit site-specific analyses supporting 

requested exemptions from emergency plan regulations, based on the criteria above. The 

licensee will also submit a corresponding license amendment request (LAA) to revise its 

emergency plan to implement the exemptions listed above, as part of a PDEP. In conjunction 

with, or as part of, the PDEP amendment, the licensee will also submit changes to the EAL 

scheme. 

The PDEP, once implemented, would no longer require under 1 O CFR 50.47 that State and 

local authorities maintain formal FEMA-approved, offsite REP plans, including the 10-mile 

Plume Exposure Pathway and 50-mile Ingestion Pathway emergency planning zones (EPZs), 

as well as a public alert and notification system. The licensee will continue to maintain an onsite 

emergency plan and response capabilities, including the notification of local government officials 

of an emergency declaration. If needed, offsite authorities may implement protective measures 

for the public using a CEMP (all-hazard) approach. The licensee will continue to notify the NRC 

and designated offsite agencies following the declaration of an emergency classification and 

maintain communications and interface responsibilities with offsite response organizations that 

may be called upon to provide assistance on site in the event of an emergency declaration. 

Provisions for fire, ambulance, and medical services will continue to be agreed upon via letters 

of agreement with local entities. 

An important consideration in processing the EP licensing actions is the need to prepare 

a Commission paper requesting approval of the proposed exemptions from the EP regulations 

in accordance with the staff requirements memorandum (SAM) to SECY-08-0024, "Delegation 

of Commission Authority to Staff to Approve or Deny Emergency Plan Changes That Represent 

a Decrease in Effectiveness." 

ISFSl-Only Emergency Plan and EAL Scheme Amendment 

Based on the projected or actual permanent removal of all spent fuel from the SFP to dry cask 

storage at an onsite ISFI, a license may submit an LAA requesting further changes to its 

emergency plan, consistent with the requirements of 1 O CFR 73.32(a) and the guidance in 

SFST-ISG-16, "Emergency Planning." 

Termination of the Emergency Response Data System 

The EADS is a direct near real-time electronic data link between the licensee's onsite computer 

system and the NRC Operations Center that provides for the automated transmission of a 

limited data set of selected parameters. 

Appendix E to 1 O CFR Part 50, Section VI, "Emergency Response Data System," details the 

requirements for EADS as they apply to operating power reactors. Once a reactor has 

permanently ceased operation and the licensee has permanently removed fuel from the reactor 

vessel, the licensee is no longer required to maintain the EADS data link to the NRC. 

Therefore, the licensee may remove EADS from service without prior NRC approval under 

19 
10 CFR 50.54(q). The licensee is required under 10 CFR 50.54(q)(5) to retain a record of each 

change to its emergency plan made without NRC approval for a period of 3 years. 

Following notice from the licensee of its intent to terminate the EROS data link, the NRC staff 

will issue a letter to the decommissioning reactor licensee acknowledging termination of the 

EROS data link. In some cases, the State will have a memorandum of understanding with the 

NRC on the use of EROS for monitoring emergency conditions at a reactor site. In this 

situation, the NRC will issue a letter to the State(s) within the 10-mile EPZ of the site informing 

them of the licensee's intent to terminate EROS (see ADAMS Accession No. ML 15117A520 as 

an example). 

See Appendix Section 1.5 for additional information on EP licensing actions. 

SECURITY 

The physical security (PS) requirements of 1 O CFR 73.55, "Requirements for Physical 

Protection of Licensed Activities in Nuclear Power Reactors against Radiological Sabotage," 

and Appendix B, "General Criteria for Security Personnel," and Appendix C, "Licensee 

Safeguards Contingency Plans," to 1 O CFR Part 73, "Physical Protection of Plants and 

Materials," continue to apply to a nuclear power reactor after permanent cessation of operations 

and removal of fuel from the reactor vessel. Currently, there are no explicit regulatory 

provisions distinguishing PS requirements for a power reactor that has been shut down 

from those for an operating power reactor. These security requirements are designed to protect 

against the design-basis threat of radiological sabotage as stated in 1 O CFR 73.1. 

Licensees have sought NRC approval of exemptions to reduce PS requirements for 

permanently shutdown reactors because the security-risk profile presented by a 

decommissioning plant is much less than when it was operating. The PS-related exemptions 

that were requested by the recent licensees to transition to decommissioning include areas such 

as severe weather and emergency authority of certified fuel handlers, communications between 

the central alarm station (CAS) and control room, number of armed responders, requirements 

for force-on-force (FOF) exercises, and combination of the CAS and secondary alarm station 

(SAS). Several of these exemptions requested by a decommissioning licensee were site 

specific and may not have been generically applicable. 

Many of the PS program changes at decommissioning reactor sites can be accomplished 

without NRC approval under the provisions of 1 O CFR 50.54(p) provided the licensees 

demonstrate no reduction in the effectiveness of the PS program. Experience has shown that, 

although the PS program changes may not require NRC approval, exemption, or a license 

amendment, significant NRC staff effort will be expended in the review and verification that the 

security plan remains effective. 

See Appendix Section 1.6 for additional information on security-related licensing actions. 

ORDER RESCISSIONS 

Orders related to the Fukushima Dai-ichi facility accident (EA-12-049, Mitigating Strategies; 

EA-12-051, Reliable SFP Instrumentation; EA-13-109, Hardened Vents) may be subject to 

20 
requests to be rescinded. However, the NRC expects that most licensees will comply with 

these orders within the next few years and the need for action in this area may be minimal 

depending on the timing of a licensee's reactor shutdown. 

In addition, licensees may request the NRC rescind security-related orders that are no 

longer applicable to those licensees. 

See Appendix Section 1.4.4 for additional information. 

MISCELLANEOUS LICENSING ACTIONS 

Exemption from Certain Recordkeeping Regulations 

Licensees that are transitioning to decommissioning may request exemptions from certain parts 

of the following recordkeeping requirements that require records to be retained until termination 

of the license: Appendix B to 1 O CFR Part 50, Criterion XVII, "Quality Assurance Records"; 

1 O CFR 50.59(d)(3); and 1 O CFR 50. 71 (c). Licensees that have previously been granted these 

exemptions used the justification that, when the associated SSCs are removed from the 

licensing basis documents, the SSCs will no longer serve any function regulated by the NRC. 

Therefore, the need to retain the records will be, on a practical basis, eliminated. 

The NRC staff has previously determined that the records subject to removal under these 

exemptions are associated with SSCs that had been important to safety during power operation 

but are no longer important operationally or capable of causing an event, incident, or condition 

that would adversely impact public health and safety, as evidenced by their appropriate removal 

from licensing basis documents. If the SSCs no longer have the potential to cause an event, 

incident, or other problem that would adversely impact public health and safety, then it is 

reasonable to conclude that the records associated with these SSCs would not be necessary to 

assist the NRC in determining compliance and noncompliance, taking action on possible 

noncompliance, and examining facts following an incident. Therefore, their retention would not 

serve the underlying purpose of the requirements. 

Records associated with SSCs that maintain compliance and protect public health and safety 

are excluded from exemptions from certain recordkeeping regulations. Examples of these 

SSCs include those associated with programmatic controls, such as controls pertaining to 

residual radioactivity, security, QA, and SSCs associated with spent fuel assemblies or the SFP 

(while assemblies are still in the pool) and ISFSls (see ADAMS Accession No. ML 15344A243). 

Approval of Changes to the Licensee's Quality Assurance Program 

A reactor licensee transitioning to decommissioning may elect to simplify and revise its current 

QA program commensurate with the permanently shutdown and defueled condition of the 

reactor, given the fewer number of SSCs for a decommissioning facility and the fewer number of 

quality standards that would apply. There are two types of changes: those that do not reduce 

commitments in the program description as accepted by the NRC and those that do 

reduce commitments. 

21 
• Changes to the QA program that do not reduce commitments must be submitted to 

the NRC, but do not require prior approval. Such changes include administrative 

improvements and clarifications; spelling corrections, punctuation or editorial corrections, 

the use of a QA standard approved by the NRC that is more recent than the QA 

standard in the licensee's current QA program, the use of a quality assurance alternative 

or exception approved by a previous NRC safety evaluation (SE), and others. All such 

changes are described in 1 O CFR 50.54(a)(3). 

• Changes that do reduce the commitments must be submitted to the NRC and receive 

approval prior to implementation, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.54(a)(4). Changes to 

the QA program description are considered accepted by the Commission upon receipt of 

a letter to this effect from the appropriate reviewing office of the Commission or 60 days 

after submittal to the Commission, whichever occurs first. 

See Appendix Section 1.7 for additional information. 

Preplanning of Decommissioning Licensing Actions 

If a licensee has sufficient time to preplan its decision to permanently cease operations, many 

of the licensing actions discussed above can be prepared and requested well in advance of 

permanent shutdown. By coordinating the submission schedule of these licensing actions with 

the NRC, significant gains in efficiency can be achieved in the NRC staff review effort and 

completion of the reviews to support implementation during decommissioning without delays. 

To facilitate timely staff review, licensees are encouraged to conduct presubmittal meetings with 

staff. 

An example of advance decommissioning licensing action planning is provided in Table 3-2 

below. This table shows an example of a decommissioning licensing action submission 

schedule for a reactor that has several years remaining in its license term. The 

decommissioning planning provides a window to process most of the licensing actions that will 

be needed during the decommissioning transition phase. It should be noted that this schedule 

also includes several ISFSI licensing actions that would be needed once all spent fuel has been 

removed from the SFP. While the ISFSI licensing actions are not typically processed during the 

decommissioning transition period, there is no reason why they cannot be processed in 

advance. 

22 
Table 3-2 Example of a Decommissioning Licensing Action Submission Schedule 

with Several Years Preplanning 

Licensing Action Type Licensing Action Proposed Submittal Date 

Description/Title 

Other CFH training and retraining 24 months prior to SD* 

Program 

License Amendment Submit EP changes to on-shift 

and augmented ERO staffing 18 months prior to SD based on permanent shutdown 

and defueled condition of facility 

License Amendment Staffing and training 

requirement changes to TSs 18 months prior to SD 

Section 6 

Exemptions Exemptions to certain 

10 CFR 50.47 and 18 months prior to SD 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, 

EP requirements 

License Amendment Proposed PDEP and EAL 

scheme implementing EP 18 months prior to SD 

exemption, as granted 

License Amendment PDTSs/Bases and revised 18 months prior to SD license conditions 

Exemptions Permit suspension of certain 

security measures during 12 months prior to SD 

severe weather conditions 

Exemptions Exemption request(s) from 

certain security requirements 12 months prior to SD 

(10 CFR Part 73) 

License Amendment Changes to security plan for 12 months prior to SD permanently defueled facility 

Exemptions Use of the DTF for spent 12 months prior to SD fuel management expenses 

Exemptions Exemption from offsite liability 6 months prior to SD insurance 

Exemptions Exemption from onsite property 6 months prior to SD damage insurance 

License Amendment Deletion of license renewal 

condition for permanently 6 months prior to SD 

defueled license 

Other PSDAR and site-specific DCE 3 months prior to SD 

Permanent Shutdown of the Plant 

Exemptions Maintenance of records 18 months after SD 

Other Changes to Offsite Dose 18 months after SD Calculation Manual 

23 
Licensing Action Type Licensing Action Proposed Submittal Date 

Description/Title 

License Amendment Additional changes to 18 months after SD Security Plan (supports ISFSI) 

License Amendment PDEP and EAL scheme 

reflecting removal of all spent 18 months after SD fuel from the SFP to an onsite 

ISFSI 

License Amendment Operating license/TS "Clean-up" 

once all fuel is transferred to 18 months after SD 

ISFSI 

*SD is projected date of permanent shutdown 

Use of Precedent 

Most licensing actions processed during decommissioning transition are based on precedent. 

The information in Table 3-3 provides the NRC staff a directory of the SEs and other related 

evaluations associated with the transition licensing action. Based on lessons learned, the NRC 

staff is strongly encouraged to review and understand the precedent developed by the staff in 

these referenced evaluations when assessing any decommissioning transition activities. 

The NRC staff should share this table with licensees as appropriate. 

Table 3-3 Key Licensing Action Evaluations for Future Reference 

Licensing and KPS CR-3 SONGS VY Regulatory Actions 

5 years prior to license 

expiration (or 2 years after 

permanent shutdown, M L092321079 ML 14344A408 ML 15182A256 ML 15274A379 

whichever occurs first)-IFMP 

10 CFR 50.54(bb) 

5 years prior to projected end of 

plant operation- M L092321079 ML 14344A408 N/A ML 14357A110 Preliminary DCE 

10 CFR 50.75(f)(3) 

Licensee preliminary notification 

of intention to permanently shut ML 12312A018 N/A NIA ML 13273A204 

down 

Certification of permanent 

shutdown ML 13058A065 ML 13056A005 ML 131640201 ML 15013A426 

(10 CFR 50.82(a)(1 )(i)) 

Certification of permanent fuel ML 13135A209 ML 13056A005 ML 13204A304 ML 15013A426 removal (10 CFR 50.82(a)(1)(ii)) ML 13183A391 

Annual Fee Reclassification ML 13162A401 N/A N/A ML 15014A041 10 CFR 171.15(c)(1)) 

24 
Licensing and KPS CR-3 SONGS VY Regulatory Actions 

PSDAR submittal * ML 13063A248 ML 13343A 183 ML 14272A 121 ML 14357A110 

PSDAR meeting summary ML 13168A570 ML 14034A026 ML 14352A063 ML 15082A327 with transcripts 

PSDAR assessment ML 15036A528 ML 14321A751 ML 15204A383 ML 15343A210 closeout letter 

CFH training and retraining ML 14104A046 ML14155A181 ML 13268A 165 ML 14162A209 program* 

TSs* 

TS section, "Administrative 

Controls" amendment (CFH N/A ML 14097A145 ML 141838240 ML14217A072 

and other staffing changes) 

Amendment to remove 

irradiated fuel ML14111A234 N/A N/A ML 14304A588 

handling-related TSs 

Defueled TScomprehensive changes to ML 14237A045 ML 152248286 ML 15139A390 ML15117A551 

all TSs 

Financial 

Site-specific cost estimate 

(10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(iii)) SE ML13135A169 ML141838636 ML 15008A096 ML 15085A226 

input (not publicly available) 

Use of DTE for spent ML 13337 A287 ML 14247A545 ML14101A132 ML 15128A219 fuel management* 

Insurance and 

indemnity exemptions 

10CFR 140.11(a)(4)0ffsite ML 15026A522 ML141838338 N/A ML 16012A 144 Liability Protection 

10 CFR 50.54(w) Onsite ML 15033A245 ML 16020A432 N/A ML 16012A193 Property Cleanup 

Modifications to parent 

company guarantee, ML 15294A304 N/A N/A ML 15097A361 

support agreement, lines of ML 15107A074 

credit 

25 
Licensing and KPS CR-3 SONGS VY Regulatory Actions 

EP 

EP changes in the on-shift 

and augmented ERO* 

staffing based on the N/A N/A N/A ML 14346A065 permanent shut down and 

defueled condition of the 

facility 

EP exemptions 

(10 CFR 50.47 and ML 14261 A223 ML 15058A906 ML 15082A204 ML 15180A054 10 CFR Part 50, 

Appendix E) 

Commission approval 

SECY of EP exemption ML 14072A257 ML14219A444 ML 14251A554 ML 14227A711 

per SECY-08-0024 

PDEP and EAL scheme ML 15126A461 

implementing EP ML 14279A482 ML 15027 A209 (PDEP) ML 15233A 166 ML 15105A349 exemption, as granted (EAL) 

Termination of EROS ML 14363A302 ML 15040A473 ML 15040A428 ML 15117A520 

ML 15274A084 

Security 

Security plan changes 

(10 CFR 50.54(p)) review ML 15247A022 ML 15224A539 ML 15288A469 ML 160088103 and acknowledgement 

letter 

Security plan amendment N/A N/A N/A N/A 

26 
Licensing and KPS CR·3 SONGS VY Regulatory Actions 

Site-specific security 

exemptions, 10 CFR 73.5 

- 10 CFR 73.55(p)(i) & 

(p)(ii) Severe weather ML 14176A980 ML 141768078 N/A ML 14266A387 and emergency 

authority of CFH 

- 10 CFR 73.55U)( 4 )(ii) 

Communications ML 14217 A228 N/A N/A N/A between CAS and 

control room 

- 10 CFR Part 73, 

Appendix 8, Section VI, ML 141908127 ML 14184AO 19 C.3, Exemption from (W) (W) N/A N/A 

licensee-conducted 

FOF 

- Exemption from ML 14349A416 Minimum Number of (W) N/A N/A N/A 

Armed Responders 

- Exemption request to ML 14282A519 N/A N/A N/A combine CAS and SAS (0) 

Amendments to license ML 14008A297 

conditions (material possession, Also see See Defueled See Defueled See Defueled 

fire protection, license renewal, Defueled TSSE TSSE TSSE 

etc.) TSSE 

Order rescissions 

Security 

- EA-02-026 ML 14154A406 N/A ML 14227A912 

- EA-06-137 N/A N/A ML 14227A912 

Fukushima 

- EA-12-049 

Modifications to ML 14059A411 ML 13212A366 ML14113A572 ML 14321A685 

Mitigation Strategies 

- EA-12-051 Reliable ML 14066A204 ML 13203A 161 ML 14111 A069 ML 14321A696 SFP Instrumentation 

- EA-13-109 Hardened N/A N/A N/A ML 14055A323 Vents 

Partial exemption N/A N/A N/A ML 15344A243 from recordkeeping 

QA program (10 CFR Part 50, N/A N/A ML 15191A461 N/A Appendix 8) 

(W) Indicates requested action withdrawn. 

(D) Indicates requested action was denied. 

* Licensing actions can be submitted to the NRG prior to permanent shutdown. 

27 
3.2 INSPECTION AND OVERSIGHT 

The Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) for reactors licensed to operate ends and the 

Decommissioning Power Reactor Inspection Program begins when a licensee provides written 

certification under 1 O CFR 50.82(a)(1) that the reactor has permanently ceased operation and 

permanently removed fuel from the reactor vessel. Specifically, the NRC transitions from 

IMC 2515, "Light-Water Reactor Inspection Program-Operations Phase," to IMC 2561, 

"Decommissioning Power Reactor Inspection Program," following the certification date for 

the permanent removal of all nuclear fuel from the reactor vessel in accordance with 

1 O CFR 50.82(a)(1 )(ii). When this occurs, NRC oversight responsibilities within the regional 

offices typically transfer from the Division of Reactor Projects (DRP) to the Division of Nuclear 

Material Safety (DNMS). Based on the reorganization of NRC Regional responsibilities in 

20033 , inspection oversight for power reactors located in Region II is transferred to Region I 

once the reactor permanently shuts down and defuels (as was the case for CR-3). The Reactor 

Decommissioning Inspection Program will remain in place until the license is terminated. 

NRR and NMSS coordinate with the regional offices on the transfer from IMC 2515 to 

IMC 2561, including resources and budget issues. The inspection program transfers are 

generally made within a few months of the permanent defueling. The decommissioning 

inspection and oversight program consists of core and discretionary inspection activities. The 

core inspection activities can be found in Appendix A of IMC 2561 and are performed on an 

annual basis. The non-core inspection activities are listed in Appendix B of IMC 2561 and 

implemented as needed based on licensee performance or activities being performed. 

The NRC oversees decommissioning of nuclear reactors through inspections that emphasize 

radiological controls, management, procedures compliance, spent fuel pool operations, and the 

safety review program. Many activities that occur during decommissioning are very routine and 

occur frequently in operating plants. These include decontamination of surfaces and 

components, surveys for radioactive contamination, waste packaging and disposal, and other 

activities. The overall inspection effort at plants being decommissioned is significantly less than 

at an operating reactor site. 

Core inspections include: 

• Organization and Management Control; 

• Quality Assurance; 

• Spent Fuel Wet Storage and Handling; 

• Maintenance and Surveillance; 

• Radiation Protection; 

• Emergency Preparedness; 

• Security; and 

• Safety Evaluations. 

Decommissioning activities are grouped into the following six categories: 

1. Post-Operation Transition Phase 

2. SAFSTOR, Fuel in the Pool 

3. SAFSTOR, No Fuel in the Pool 

3 NRG Regulatory Issue Summary 2003-15: Consolidation of the Region I and Region II Materials 

Program (ADAMS Accession No. ML032480409) 

28 
4. Actively Decommissioning, Fuel in the Pool 

5. Actively Decommissioning, No Fuel in Pool 

6. Final Surveys Underway, No Fuel in Pool 

Inspection hour estimates are based on decommissioning activities and will vary from site to 

site. During active decommissioning, NRC inspectors may be at the facility 2 or 3 weeks of the 

month. During a long-term storage period, they would be present several times a year. 

Usually only one Resident Inspector will typically remain onsite for a period of 6 to 12 months 

after the 50.82(a)(1 )(ii) certification is submitted. During this period, decommissioning 

inspections are performed by both the onsite resident inspector and regional inspectors 

specialized in decommissioning. After the Resident Inspector leaves the site, all inspection 

activities are completed by regional inspectors. 

In general, during the most recent reactors that were transitioning to a decommissioning state, 

the NRC regional inspectors found that IMC 2561 and the associated Appendix A and B 

inspection procedure had not been maintained up-to-date with the various regulatory and 

oversight changes that had occurred since the last set of plants underwent decommissioning. 

Inspection procedures such as for adverse weather, SFP safety, and fire protection, were either 

not available or lacked adequate guidance for inspectors. In particular, security and emergency 

preparedness inspection procedures for a shutdown plant were initially unavailable. As a result 

NSIR created a series of physical security and EP inspection procedures. 

Based on the reorganization of NRC regional responsibilities in 2003, Region I assumes 

oversight and inspection responsibility for power reactors in NRC Region II that have 

transitioned to decommissioning. However, there was no guidance in IMC 2561 on how this 

should be accomplished. Region I coordinated a highly successful and seamless transfer of 

oversight responsibility, including allegations, enforcement, and emergency response, from 

Region II to Region I for the first plant from Region II to transition into a decommissioning status. 

The Regions also encountered issues with the lack of guidance on how the transition from 

IMC 2515 to IMC 2561 should be communicated and documented to the licensee and public. 

The NRC staff also determined that additional guidance should be added to IMC 2515 to ensure 

appropriate oversight is maintained at sites whose licensees have announced their intention, 

and are preparing, to transition to a permanently shutdown condition. A revision to IMC 2515 

was issued in February 2016. The revision included new ROP framework guidance (Section 15 

and Appendix G) to adjust baseline inspection effort (e.g., hours and samples) when licensees 

begin the transition to permanent shutdown and decommissioning. 

See Appendix Section 2 for additional information regarding the decommissioning reactor 

inspection and oversight program. 

3.3 RULEMAKING 

By issuing a power reactor decommissioning rule, the NRC would be able to establish 

regulations that would maintain safety and security at sites transitioning to decommissioning 

without the need to grant specific exemptions or license amendments in certain regulatory 

areas. Specifically, the decommissioning rulemaking would have the following goals: 

29 
(1) continue to provide reasonable assurance of adequate protection of the public health and 

safety and common defense and security at decommissioning power reactor sites, (2) ensure 

that the requirements for decommissioning power reactors are clear and appropriate, (3) codify 

those issues that are found to be generically applicable to all decommissioning power reactors 

and have resulted in the need for similarly worded exemptions or license amendments, and 

(4) identify, define, and resolve additional areas of concern related to the regulation of 

decommissioning power reactors. 

In the SRM to SECY-14-0066, "Request by Dominion Energy Kewaunee, Inc. for Exemptions 

from Certain Emergency Planning Requirements,'' dated August 7, 2014 (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML 14219A366), the Commission directed that the staff should, based on lessons learned 

from the most recent operating plant closures, report to the Commission its views on the need 

for an integrated rulemaking for decommissioning and, as appropriate, provide the potential 

schedule and resources required for completion. 

In the SRM to SECY-14-0118, "Request by Duke Energy Florida, Inc., for Exemptions from 

Certain Emergency Planning Requirements,'' dated December 30, 2014 (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML 14364A 111 ), the Commission provided further direction to the NRC staff to proceed with 

rulemaking on reactor decommissioning and set an objective of early 2019 for its completion. 

Within this SRM, the Commission directed the staff to address the following: 

• issues discussed in SECY-00-0145, "Integrated Rulemaking Plan for Nuclear 

Power Plant Decommissioning,'' such as the graded approach to EP; 

• lessons learned from the plants that have already (or are currently) going through the 

decommissioning process; 

• the advisability of requiring a licensee's PSDAR to be approved by the NRC; 

• the appropriateness of maintaining the three existing options (DEGON, SAFSTOR, 

and ENTOMB) for decommissioning and the timeframes associated with those options; 

• the appropriate role of State and local governments and nongovernmental stakeholders 

in the decommissioning process; and 

• any other issues deemed relevant by the NRC staff. 

In SECY-15-0014, "Anticipated Schedule and Estimated Resources for a Power 

Reactor Decommissioning Rulemaking," dated January 30, 2015 (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML 14357A177; not publicly available, although a redacted version of SECY-15-0014 is 

available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML 15082A089), the NRC staff committed to proceed 

with a rulemaking on reactor decommissioning and provided an anticipated schedule and 

estimate of the resources required for the completion of a decommissioning rulemaking. 

In SECY-15-0127, "Schedule, Resource Estimates, and Impacts for the Power Reactor 

Decommissioning Rulemaking,'' dated October 7, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML 15211 A095, 

not publicly available), the staff provided further information to the Commission on resource 

30 
estimates and work that will be delayed or deferred in fiscal year (FY) 2016 to enable the staff to 

make timely progress consistent with Commission direction to have a final rule submitted to the 

Commission by the end of FY 2019. 

On November 19, 2015, the NRC published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) 

in the Federal Register (80 FR 72358) (ADAMS Accession No. ML 15334A269) to obtain input 

from stakeholders on the development of a draft regulatory basis for Regulatory Improvements 

for Decommissioning Power Reactors rulemaking. 

On December 9, 2015, the NRC conducted a public meeting to promote full understanding of 

the questions contained in this ANPR and facilitate public comment. The meeting summary was 

issued on January 5, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML 15362A099). 

Based on numerous requests from the States and other stakeholders, the NRC published a 

notice in the Federal Register on December 28, 2015 (80 FR 80709), that extended the 

comment period for the ANPR from January 4, 2016, to March 18, 2016, thereby providing the 

public with a total of 120 days to submit comments on the ANPR. 

The NRC received 161 comments representing various members of the public, including 

private citizens; community advisory panels; citizen advocacy groups; the nuclear industry and 

associated licensees; local, State, and Federal government agencies; and nongovernmental 

organizations (NGOs). 

The milestones and associated opportunities for public interaction throughout the rulemaking 

process include the following: 

Rulemakinq Milestones I Public Interaction 

• The ANPR was published on November 19, 2015. 

The public comment period ended on March 18, 2016. 

• The Draft Regulatory Basis is estimated to be completed in November 2016 and will be 

published for public comment. 

A public meeting will be held to discuss the Draft Regulatory Basis. 

• The Final Regulatory Basis is estimated to be completed in the fall of 2017. 

• The Proposed Rule/Draft Regulatory Guidance is estimated to be completed in the 

summer of 2018 and will be published for public comment. 

A public meeting will be held to discuss the Proposed Rule/Draft Regulatory Guidance. 

• The Final Rule/Final Regulatory Guidance is expected to be provided to the Commission 

in calendar year 2019. 

An implementation public meeting will be held at an appropriate time. 

The NRC recognizes that it will take several years to issue a final rule. When additional 

reactors begin decommissioning before implementation of the final rule, the NRC anticipates 

31 
that licensees will continue to use existing regulatory processes described in this lessons 

learned report to establish their decommissioning regulatory framework. 

3.4 COMMUNICATIONS 

Openness is one of the five principles of good regulation. The NRC recognizes the public's 

interest in the proper regulation of nuclear activities and provides various opportunities for 

citizens to share their opinions. The NRC seeks to elicit public involvement early in its 

regulatory processes, including decommissioning, so that members of the public can raise 

safety concerns for the NRC to consider during its deliberations of regulatory actions. 

Public Meeting Requirements 

The NRC regulations currently offer the public several opportunities to review and provide 

comments on licensees' documents during the decommissioning process. Specifically, under 

the NRC regulations in 10 CFR 50.82, the NRC is required to publish a notice of the receipt of 

the PSDAR, make the PSDAR available for public comment, schedule a meeting in the vicinity 

of the location of the licensed facility to discuss the PSDAR, and publish a notice of the meeting 

in the Federal Register and another forum readily accessible to individuals in the vicinity of the 

site. This meeting typically addresses three areas: (1) the decommissioning regulatory 

process, (2) the licensee's proposed post-shutdown plans and schedule, and (3) the NRC's 

continuing oversight throughout the transition and decommissioning phases. 

Of note, licensees are prohibited from performing any major decommissioning activities until 

90 days after the NRC has received the PSDAR and certifications of permanent cessation of 

operations and permanent removal of fuel from the reactor vessel, as required under 

1 O CFR 50.82(a)(1 ), have been submitted. For licensees that submit their PSDARs after the 

certifications have been submitted, the 90-day condition is based on the receipt of the PSDAR. 

In these cases, the public meetings are typically held within 30-60 days of receipt of the PSDAR 

such that the public can provide comments on the PSDAR prior to the start of major 

decommissioning activities. As discussed in the licensing section above, coordination with the 

licensee on the submittal schedule of the PSDAR is necessary to ensure the NRC can conduct 

the meeting within 30-60 days of receipt. 

The other opportunity for public participation is near the end of the decommissioning when the 

license termination plan (L TP) is submitted for approval. The L TP is submitted to the NRC as a 

license amendment request pursuant to 10 CFR 50.90, "Application for Amendment of License, 

Construction Permit, or Early Site Permit." As such, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.91, "Notice for 

Public Comment; State Consultation," the NRC will provide a notice in the Federal Register that 

the L TP is available for comment and will provide an opportunity for hearing on the request. 

The NRC staff's review of the LTP will follow the normal license amendment process. 

In addition, all specific requests to amend the operating license during decommissioning follow 

the 1 O CFR 50.90 amendment process and provide opportunity for public comment and request 

for hearing. 

32 
Stakeholder Involvement 

Also, consistent with the NRC's principle of openness, the NRC frequently interacts with 

interested stakeholders, including both NGOs and local and State government officials, in 

order to discuss any decommissioning topics that may be of interest to the public, interested 

stakeholders, and the surrounding community. These interactions include participation at 

existing community forums, government-to-government meetings, end-of-cycle plant 

performance meetings, congressional staff briefings, meetings with State and local officials, 

media boards and press briefings, and correspondence related to nuclear plant 

decommissioning. These meetings are scheduled and conducted in cooperation with the 

appropriate organizations (e.g., Office of Congressional Affairs (OCA) for congressional 

briefings and Office of Public Affairs (OPA) for media interest). A listing of many of the reactor 

decommissioning stakeholder outreach meetings is provided at the end of Appendix Section 3. 

The NRC staff acknowledges the desire for and value of community involvement in the 

decommissioning of a nuclear power plant. Power plant decommissioning is a complex project, 

and the NRC believes that the impact of decommissioning and termination of a nuclear power 

reactor license needs to be communicated to the local community. As an independent 

regulator, the NRC ensures that all members of the public are given a fair and equal opportunity 

to comment on a licensee's decommissioning plans, commensurate with the risks involved. 

Therefore, the NRC does not officially recognize or endorse any specific special interest group, 

public or private organizations, community groups, coalitions, or individuals. This approach 

ensures that one or more organizations do not dominate a public forum and allows members of 

the public to provide alternative and differing viewpoints and comments to the NRC. 

While not required, for many years the NRC has strongly recommended that licensees involved 

in decommissioning activities form a community committee to obtain local citizen views and 

concerns regarding the decommissioning process and spent fuel storage issues. The NRC has 

observed that the licensees who actively engage the community maintain better relations with 

the local citizens. The only NRC requirement to have a site-specific community board is for 

licensees that are seeking to terminate the license with restricted release. 

It is important to note that community interest in reactor decommissioning activities can vary 

depending on the location and historical relationship between the licensee and State and local 

governments, labor unions, members of the public, and other stakeholders. The DTWG 

supported NRC staff development of a strategy that could be employed, when circumstances 

warrant, for enhancing public awareness and understanding of the activities surrounding the 

transition to decommissioning for power reactors within the existing regulatory framework. To 

accomplish these objectives, the staff developed or updated the following communication tools: 

• "Communication Strategy for the Enhancement of Public Awareness regarding Power 

Reactors Transitioning to Decommissioning," dated February 2015 (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML 15013A068). This document outlines the NRC strategy for communicating the 

key messages regarding the NRC process and practices for public and stakeholder 

engagement during the decommissioning of nuclear power plants as well as providing 

a resource for addressing related frequently asked questions (FAQs). This document is 

supplemented by other communication documents assembled NSIR related to the 

33 
exemptions from certain EP requirements requested by the four reactors that recently 

transition to decommissioning. 

• FAQs have been made publicly available online at 

http://www. n re. gov/waste/decommissioni nq. html. 

• NMSS collected public questions from the recent transitioning reactors and is completing 

a revision to NUREG-1628, "Staff Responses to Frequently Asked Questions concerning 

Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants." 

• An NRC brochure on decommissioning was updated and is available to the public at 

http://www.nrc.gov/readinq-rm/doc-ollections/nuregs/brochures/br0521/ as well as the 

NRC backgrounder on decommissioning at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/decommissioninq.html. Both 

of these information sources will also be updated and maintained as appropriate to 

ensure that decommissioning information available to the public is accurate and 

readily available. 

• Communication one-pagers supporting issuance of regulatory decisions on specific 

regulatory requests. These one-pagers were developed for most of the 

decommissioning licensing actions to provide timely information to NRC internal 

stakeholders of significant actions and to prepare OPA and OCA for inquiries from 

external stakeholders. The NRC staff recognizes that strong internal communications 

through the use of one-pagers are an effective means of ensuring internal stakeholders 

are well informed regarding sometimes complex regulatory requirements and 

decommissioning activities. These communication one-pages have been collected and 

captured in ADAMS for future decommissioning transition activities (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML 16082A 165, not publicly available). 

• Communication plans were developed for certain complex licensing actions to 

coordinate the public release, provide consistent key messages, and anticipate likely 

questions. These communication plans have been collected and captured in ADAMS 

with the communication one-pagers for future decommissioning transition activities 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML 16082A 165, not publicly available). 

The NRC staff observed that, as part of the NRC's decommissioning communication strategy, 

communications promoting public awareness have had a positive benefit in the overall 

decommissioning process. The communication process begins with early engagement with the 

licensee regarding decommissioning planning and the NRC's advocacy of licensee-sponsored 

advisory panels, followed by the staff's continued development of communication tools and its 

ability to proactively interact with members of the public, NGOs, and affected State and local 

officials. 

The NRC staff recognizes that strong internal communications and use of one-pagers and 

communication plans are effective means of ensuring internal stakeholders are well-informed. 

In addition, the communication tools enabled the staff to promptly support OPA and OCA in 

responding to external request for information. 

34 
Finally, extensive feedback was received from affected States and NGOs regarding the inability 

to provide public comment as part of the exemption process. The NRC staff is considering 

whether to change the current role of States, members of the public, or other stakeholders in 

the decommissioning process as part of the integrated decommissioning rulemaking effort. 

35 
4.0 LESSONS LEARNED 

(1) The premature permanent shutdown of a power reactor, without sufficient preplanning, 

can limit the NRC staff's ability to plan and allocate resources to support the licensees' 

licensing requests. The decommissioning licensees often requested expedited reviews 

of its decommissioning licensing actions in an attempt to minimize facility staffing levels 

and reduce expenditures from the DTFs. Premature unplanned shutdowns also impact 

other key stakeholders, such as the States, local governments, and communities. 

Planned early submission of decommissioning transition licensing actions, as 

demonstrated by VY, can increase the efficiency of the transition process. The NRC 

completed the transition of the project management function of VY from NRR to NMSS 

nearly a year earlier than the other recent decommissioning reactors, in part because of 

VY's submission of several licensing actions while it was still operating. 

(2) As experienced with the previous decommissioning reactors in the 1990s, the recent 

decommissioning reactor licensees submitted a large number of exemption requests and 

LARs to modify their licensing bases. Commensurate with the reduced risks of 

decommissioning, over 70 decommissioning-related licensing actions were received and 

processed by the NRC staff in less than 3 years. Where it is possible, staff with previous 

decommissioning transition licensing experience should be engaged in the review 

process for these licensing actions. 

(3) Due to the 15-year interval since conducting prior decommissioning transition reviews, 

a learning curve existed for both the NRC and the licensees to effectively process the 

decommissioning transition-related licensing actions. Furthermore, limited and, in some 

cases, outdated guidance was available in processing decommissioning transition 

licensing actions. For example, NRR 01 COM-101 has not been revised since 2002. 

While it was still generally useful and applicable to the recent reactor decommissioning 

transitions, it is out-of-date in many areas, including document processing and office 

structure. In addition, although principal decommissioning regulatory guidance 

document RG 1 .184 was revised in 2013, the experience gained in the recent 

decommissioning transitions could be used to further improve this guidance document. 

(4) The NRC staff has gained considerable experience in evaluating decommissioning EP 

exemption requests that resulted in the development of NSIR/DPR-ISG-02. For these 

exemptions, the staff continues to request Commission approval in accordance with the 

SRM for SECY-08-0024. The staff is considering whether to propose future changes to 

this process to the Commission to enhance overall efficiency and effectiveness. 

(5) Several decommissioning exemption requests were not adequately supported by 

documentation provided in the licensee's submittal. The NRC staff did not require an 

acceptance review on the decommissioning actions since the scope of applicability of 

NRR 01 LIC-109, "Acceptance Review Procedures" (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML091810088), specifically excludes decommissioning reactors. Performing 

an acceptance review may have led to licensees supplementing their applications or 

nonacceptances, or both, instead of more requests for additional information. In some 

cases, the NRC staff expended resources evaluating licensing requests that were 

ultimately withdrawn. 

36 
(6) NMSS has different practices regarding the distribution of documents. NRR uses 

electronic distribution, while NMSS uses paper. Continuing electronic distribution of 

documents would provide continuity in reaching the interested public stakeholders within 

the local vicinity of reactors that are currently preparing to transition to decommissioning. 

(7) The resources expended in project management of the decommissioning licensing 

actions were directly related to external stakeholder interest and involvement in the 

process. The staff resources expended in addressing stakeholder petitions, State 

concerns, and Congressional questions related to VY far exceeded similar activities 

for other decommissioning reactors. 

(8) In certain cases, licensees may determine, through an evaluation under the 

1 O CFR 50.59 process, that plant systems, equipment, or instruments may no longer be 

required after cessation of operation. However, in the past, some licensees have 

inappropriately used the 1 O CFR 50.59 process in determining whether a reduction in 

effectiveness in the emergency plan exists without appropriately evaluating the impact 

on EALs under 1 O CFR 50.54(q). While various EALs are linked to operating modes, 

which may no longer apply to a permanently shutdown and defueled reactor, a licensee 

should submit a proposed EAL scheme change for prior NRC approval as required 

under Appendix E to 1 O CFR Part 50. 

(9) Many NRC staff evaluations are contingent on defined accidents. Typically, the 

accidents might include fuel handling accidents, cask drop accidents, radioactive release 

due to a fire, radioactive release due to a radioactive waste storage accident, or other 

site-specific accidents. These accidents are cited in many of the decommissioning 

transition licensing actions and are evaluated by the staff to determine the potential for 

offsite releases in excess of EPA PAG limits. Some of the previous decommissioning 

reactor transition reviews were not well communicated internally resulting in the same 

accidents being evaluated multiple times by different reviewers. Better coordination is 

needed to ensure technical staff reviews are not duplicative or redundant. 

37 
5.0 BEST PRACTICES 

(1) NRR utilized a centralized project management approach under one branch with a 

focused set of project managers to facilitate consistent licensing reviews for those plants 

that were transitioning to decommissioning. NRR plans to continue centralized project 

management for the recently announced planned decommissioning reactors. 

(2) The NRC staff continues the practice of early engagement and encouragement of 

submission of decommissioning transition licensing actions well ahead of permanent 

shutdown. 

a. Early submission of licensing actions allows for greater schedule margin to 

critical decommissioning milestones when licensing action processing could 

delay expected staffing reductions and result in significant unnecessary 

expenditures from the DTF. 

b. Early submission of licensing actions increases the NRC's options and flexibility 

in scheduling reviewers in parallel with higher priority operating reactor licensing 

actions. 

c. Early submission of licensing actions allows for the use of the licensee's staff 

resources supporting an operating reactor that are typically not available after the 

reactor has permanently shut down. 

d. When a licensee submits the PSDAR well in advance of permanent shutdown, 

the NRC staff can conduct its required public meeting and inform public 

stakeholders on the decommissioning process in a proactive manner that is 

unconstrained by the 90-day limit. This will also permit licensee access to the 

DTF for major decommissioning activities following the submittal of the 

1 O CFR 50.82{a){1 )(ii) certification. 

(3) Both licensees and NRC staff are encouraged to consider precedent safety evaluations 

when preparing and evaluating future decommissioning licensing action requests. 

(4) The NRC staff should continue to encourage licensees to engage with local 

community leaders and sponsor advisory panels to allow for local involvement. 

(5) The NRC staff initiated performing acceptance reviews on decommissioning related 

licensing requests. 

(6) The NRC staff issued two ISGs related to EP and security reviews. 

(7) The NRC staff revised its inspection procedures to ensure appropriate oversight is 

maintained at sites whose licensees have announced their intention, and are preparing, 

to transition to a permanently shutdown condition. 

(8) The NRC staff should continue the practice of using communication plans and informal 

communication one pagers in advance of or concurrent with the issuance of most of the 

38 
licensing actions. The use of these internal communications was very effective in 

informing internal stakeholders of significant events and preparing OPA and OCA for 

inquiries from external stakeholders. These communication plans and communication 

one-pagers were extremely helpful for SONGS and VY licensing actions. 

39 
6.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 

(1) NRR should revise NRR 01 COM-101 to reflect the lessons learned and best practices 

documented in this report. 

(2) NMSS should adopt an electronic distribution service for NRG-initiated correspondence 

for reactors that have been transferred to NMSS for project management responsibility. 

NMSS management has begun using electronic distribution for the recently transitioned 

decommissioning reactors. The NRC staff recommends that this policy be formally 

documented. 

(3) The NRR staff should consider performing an acceptance review on all 

decommissioning licensing actions (both amendments and exemptions) consistent with 

LIC-109 and formalize this in the next revision of the 01. 

(4) The NRC should assess how best to proceed with the update to RG 1.184, 

"Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Reactors," in coordination with the 

decommissioning rulemaking effort. 

(5) In the SRM to SECY-08-0024, dated May 19, 2008 (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML081400510), the Commission provided direction that the staff should request 

Commission approval for any licensing request for an exemption from the EP 

requirements of 1 O CFR 50.47(b) and Appendix E to 1 O CFR Part 50. Therefore, each 

EP exemption request submitted by a decommissioning licensee requires the 

development and submittal of a Commission paper requesting approval of the proposed 

EP exemptions. Given the now routine nature of these requests, which are expected to 

follow the format and content guidance of NSIR/DPR-ISG-02, the NRC staff should 

consider ways to gain efficiency in this process, such as by requesting that the 

Commission delegate authority to approve decommissioning EP exemption requests to 

the Office Director of NRR. If pursued, this delegation would be for decommissioning EP 

exemptions only and would be contingent on the requested decommissioning EP 

exemptions being consistent with previous decommissioning EP exemptions and 

following the guidance of NSIR/DPR-ISG-02. Before proposing such a change, the staff 

would need to consider Commission precedent on the topic to ensure its 

recommendation is fully informed and does not revisit previous Commission decisions 

without an appropriate basis. 

(6) The NRC staff should communicate with the licensee, as part of presubmittal 

discussions, previous issues concerning the abandonment of EP-related equipment and 

whether the licensee can use the 1 O CFR 50.54(q) change process to retire the 

equipment or will need an amendment to the licensee's emergency plan. 

(7) A licensee planning for decommissioning should include a review of active licensing 

requests and determine whether to request formal withdrawals of these requests. As 

a courtesy, following an informal notification by the licensee of its intention to withdraw 

certain active licensing requests, the project manager should contact the NRC staff and 

request that it stop work. 

40 
(8) Other recommendations for the NRC staff to consider include: 

a. Develop an inspection procedure (IP) for oversight of aging management of longlived, passive structures and components (e.g., neutron-absorbing materials, 

SFP liner) during decommissioning while fuel is in the SFP. 

b. Develop a regulatory issue summary or some other type of generic 

communication that defines permissible decommissioning activities for which 

expenditures can be withdrawn from the DTF. 

c. Encourage industry to submit a decommissioning Technical Specifications Task 

Force traveler that removes all MODE-related TSs for permanently shutdown and 

defueled reactors. Such changes should be applicable to all decommissioning 

reactors since there will no longer be a MODE at these facilities once they have 

permanently ceased operation and permanently defueled the reactor vessel. 

This would save a significant level of effort in the license amendment preparation 

by the licensee and review hours by the NRC staff. 

d. Continue to engage the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) to develop industry 

standards for decommissioning topical areas as appropriate. 

e. Develop a way to capture and characterize the potential risk of DTF shortfalls 

for reactors that may prematurely cease operation well before their license 

expiration dates. 

f. Update NMSS Policy and Procedure 5.1 to reflect any changes made to 

NRR 01 COM-101. 

g. Revise Inspection Manual Chapter 2561 to reflect new EP and security 

decommissioning IPs in support of the decommissioning inspection program. 

h. To the extent possible, consider additional options to complete the 

decommissioning licensing and rulemaking activities in a more efficient and 

effective manner, while continuing to ensure that the plants decommission safely. 

41 
APPENDIX TO POWER REACTOR 

TRANSITION FROM OPERATIONS TO 

DECOMMISSIONING LESSONS 

LEARNED REPORT 

{ML 16302A022)