Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: 94d9f3d5-978d-4aea-9ba7-486ca7f8503a
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: Standard Format and Content of Decommissioning Cost Estimates for Nuclear Power Reactors
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 1
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML0131/ML013100099.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-1.202
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
for unrestricted use even after 100 years and because current regulations require that 4 decommissioning be completed within 60 years of cessation of operation, the NRC is considering a rulemaking to alter the 60-year time for completing decommissioning and to clarify the use of engineered barriers for reactor entombments. Pending completion of such a rulemaking, entombment requests will be handled on a case-by-case basis. The NRC recognizes that some combination of these methods would also be acceptable. For example, the licensee could conduct a partial radiological decontamination of the plant followed by entombment or a storage period, followed by the completion of the radiological D&D. Or the licensee could use a process of deferred dismantlement. Deferred dismantlement would typically consist of four distinct phases: (1) pre-shutdown planning/engineering and regulatory reviews, (2) plant deactivation and preparation for storage, (3) a period of plant safe storage with concurrent operations in the spent fuel pool until the pool inventory is zero, and (4) radiological D&D of the radioactive portions of the plant, leading to license termination. SAFSTOR typically consists of five distinct phases, with the initial three phases identical to those of deferred dismantlement. The fourth phase of SAFSTOR is extended safe storage (< 60 years), without any fuel in the spent fuel storage pool, and the fifth phase is radiological D&D of the radioactive portions of the plant. DECOMMISSIONING COST ESTIMATES In addition to maintaining reasonable financial assurance for decommissioning, there are requirements related to developing, submitting, and NRC review of decommissioning cost estimates: ! 10 CFR 50.75(f)(2) requires that a licensee “...shall at or about 5 years prior to the projected end of operations submit [to the NRC] a preliminary decommissioning cost estimate which includes an up-to-date assessment of the major factors that could affect the cost to