Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: 151ab883-1221-4a79-88d6-a2631cce2239
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Reactors (Rev. 1)
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 1
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2134/ML21347A080.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-05
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-1.184
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
following IAEA Safety Requirements and Guides were considered in the update of this RG: • IAEA General Safety Requirements Part 6, “Decommissioning of Facilities,” issued July 2014 (Ref. 28) • IAEA Safety Guide WS-G-2.1, “Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants and Research Reactors,” issued December 1999 (Ref. 29) • IAEA Safety Guide WS-G-2.2, “Decommissioning of Medical, Industrial and Research Facilities,” issued December 1999 (Ref. 30) • IAEA Safety Guide WS-G-2.4, “Decommissioning of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities,” issued June 2001 (Ref. 31) • IAEA Safety Guide WS-G-5.2, “Safety Assessment for the Decommissioning of Facilities Using Radioactive Material,” issued February 2009 (Ref. 32) DG-1347 Revision 1, Page 11 C. STAFF REGULATORY GUIDANCE This section provides detailed descriptions of the methods, approaches, or data that the NRC staff considers acceptable for meeting the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50 and 10 CFR Part 52 for decommissioning of nuclear power reactors. 1. Certification of Permanent Cessation of Operations As stated in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1)(i) and 10 CFR 52.110(a)(1), when a licensee has determined to permanently cease operations at a nuclear power reactor unit, it must submit a written certification to the NRC within 30 days of that determination. Note that the rule requires the licensee to submit certification within 30 days of the decision to cease operations rather than within 30 days of actual facility shutdown. The NRC considers that the 30-day clock starts on the day that the licensee publicly announces the date that the facility will permanently cease operations. If the facility has already been shut down, the date of permanent cessation of operations would correspond to the day that the decision is made not to seek to return to power-generation operation. If the NRC issues an order to permanently cease operations at a facility, the certification would be required within 30 days of the effective date of the