NRC Amends Licensing, Inspection, and Annual Fees for Fiscal Year 2024
Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release
No: 24-051 June 20, 2024
CONTACT: David McIntyre, 301-415-8200
NRC Amends Licensing, Inspection, and Annual Fees for Fiscal Year 2024
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is amending its regulations for the licensing, inspection, special projects, and annual fees it will charge applicants and licensees for fiscal year 2024.
The FY 2024 final fee rule published today in the Federal Register, reflects a total budget authority of $944.1 million, an increase of $16.9 million from FY 2023. Under the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act, the NRC is required to recover to the maximum extent practicable, approximately 100 percent of its total budget authority, with exceptions for excluded activities. A proposed fee rule was published for public comment on Feb. 20. The final rule becomes effective Aug. 19.
After accounting for the exclusions from the fee-recovery requirement and net billing adjustments, the NRC must recover approximately $808.3 million in fees in FY 2024. Of this amount, approximately $202.2 million will be recovered through service fees under 10 CFR Part 170, and approximately $606.1 million will be recovered through annual fees under 10 CFR Part 171.
Compared with FY 2023, annual fees are increasing for fuel facilities, spent fuel storage/reactor decommissioning activities, non-power production or utilization facilities, the one NRC uranium recovery licensee, the Department of Energy’s transportation activities, and Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act Program, and all materials users fee categories. The annual fees for operating power reactors do not exceed the cap established by NEIMA and are decreasing from FY 2023 levels.
The final fee rule includes a change in the hourly rate charged for services, affecting licensees and applicants. The NRC has increased its hourly rate from $300 to $317, and license application fees have been adjusted accordingly. The NRC is also amending its payment methods to align with the Treasury Department’s “No-Cash No-Check” policy by removing paper forms and facilitating electronic payments through www.pay.gov.
The NRC estimates that the FY 2024 annual fees will be paid by 94 operating commercial power reactors, three non-power production or utilization facilities, 124 spent nuclear fuel storage and decommissioning reactor facilities, eight fuel cycle facilities, one uranium recovery facility, and approximately 2,400 nuclear materials licensees.
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