Opinion ID: 173333
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Surety to guarantee the financial ability to conduct restoration efforts

Text: In order to facilitate the restoration of a mine site after the operator has finished mining it, the NRC's regulations further require that the mine operator provide a surety in order to insure that the licensee will have the economic wherewithal to decommission the ISL mine site. 10 C.F.R. Pt. 40, App. A, Criterion 9. The NRC will review the amount of the required surety annually and can adjust the surety requirements as necessary to recognize increases or decreases resulting from inflation, changes in engineering plans, activities performed, and any other conditions affecting cost. Id. In addressing this required surety arrangement, HRI's license mandates that the ground water restoration of the initial well fields shall be based on nine pore volumes ( id. at 312): Surety for groundwater restoration of the initial well fields shall be based on 9 pore-volumes. Surety shall be maintained at this level until the number of pore volumes required to restore the groundwater quality of a production-scale well field has been established by the restoration demonstration described in [the license's section] 10.28. If at any time it is found that well field restoration requires greater pore-volumes or higher restoration costs, the value of the surety will be adjusted upwards. Upon NRC approval, the licensee shall maintain the NRC-approved financial surety arrangement consistent with 10 CFR Part 40, Appendix A, Criterion 9. Annual updates to the surety amount, required by 10 CFR Part 40, Appendix A, Criterion 9, shall be provided to the NRC at least 3 months prior to the anniversary date of the license issuance. If the NRC has not approved a proposed revision 30 days prior to the expiration date of the existing surety arrangement, the licensee shall extend the existing arrangement, prior to expiration, for 1 year. Along with each proposed revision or annual update of the surety the licensee shall submit supporting documentation showing a breakdown of the costs and the basis for the cost estimates with adjustments for inflation (i.e., using the approved Urban Consumer Price Index), maintenance of a minimum 15 percent contingency, changes in engineering plans, activities performed, and any other conditions affecting estimated costs for site closure. ( Id. at 315.)