Allowing qualified licensees to use self-guarantee would reduce the costs of complying with NRC financial assurance requirements. The SRM also directed that the rulemaking plan be forwarded for Commission review by negative consent prior to proceeding with the rulemaking. The NRC must have proof of financial strength on the part of the licensee adequate to ensure that decommissioning funding obligations will be met if self-guarantee is permitted. Financial strength does not necessarily depend on type of licensee. Many colleges and universities have very strong financial positions, with very large endowment funds that could be used if needed for decommissioning funding.
Some hospitals are also financially strong.
With respect to non-bond issuing industrial firms, their lack of any bond issuance can reflect financial resources great enough to preclude the need to issue debt. The risk of default of industrial bond issuers with an A or better bond rating has been estimated as being less than one percent annually. Bond ratings are reviewed often and changed in response to changes in the issuer's financial condition. The A or better bond rating should be for uninsured bonds. As discussed in the ICF report, insured bond ratings are in fact the rating of the insuring company and may not apply to the institution that holds the NRC license.