UNITED ST ATES 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 

The Honorable Derek Kilmer 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

Dear Congressman Kilmer: 

February 22, 2017 

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

December 12, 2016, letter from you and your colleagues regarding NRC regulation and 

oversight of naval vessel decommissioning and related activities. Responses to your specific 

questions are enclosed with this letter. 

At the outset, it is important to clarify that under section 91 .a(3) of the Atomic Energy Act 

the oversight of Naval Reactors' (or its contractor's) work related to decommissioning of naval 

vessels is the responsibility of the Department of Energy (DOE). When the NRC was created 

by the Energy Reorganization Act, this responsibility was assigned exclusively to the Energy 

Research and Development Administration, which was later folded into DOE. The NRC has 

consistently maintained that the NRC does not have jurisdiction over DOE activities that have 

been exclusively reserved to DOE. We recognize that DOE holds a different view, and that both 

agencies have respectfully asserted these different views since at least 1998. The NRC staff 

and Naval Reactors have had several recent discussions regarding agency perspectives on the 

jurisdictional issues. The NRC remains open to further discussion on these issues with Naval 

Reactors and other stakeholders. 

Although the NRC does not have authority over these activities, in the past, the NRC has 

effectively provided Naval Reactors with technical assistance through reimbursable agreements 

on matters for which the NRC has technical expertise but does not have jurisdiction. Naval 

Reactors funded these activities. Likewise, here, Naval Reactors could decide to seek technical 

assistance from the NRC for specific projects concerning the decommissioning of naval vessels . 

The NRC staff is currently discussing the technical parameters of a potential reimbursable 

agreement with Naval Reactors. The NRC's resources associated with such work would 

depend on its specific scope. 

I hope this response adequately addresses your questions. If you have additional 

questions, please contact me or Eugene Dacus, Director of the Office of Congressional Affairs , 

at (301 ) 415-1776. 

Sincerely, 

Kristine L. Svinicki 

Enclosure: 

As stated 
Identical letter sent to: 

The Honorable Derek Kilmer 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Patty Murray 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Maria Cantwell 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Marcy Kaptur 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington , DC 20515 

The Honorable Peter Visclosky 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Adam Smith 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Joe Courtney 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Jim Cooper 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Tom Cole 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Rick Larsen 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Rob Bishop 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Donald Norcross 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Dan Newhouse 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Jaime Herrera Beutler 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Cathy McMorris Rodgers 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Denny Heck 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington , DC 20515 

The Honorable David Reichert 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Suzan DelBene 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Pete Aguilar 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Frank LoBiondo 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington , DC 20515